


A Model BOYfriend

by EllysiaBanearrow



Series: A Model [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Awkwardness, Blushfest, Chloe being a meany, Dating, Different Points of View, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Maybe more than Teen, Miraculous Holders, Photo Shoots, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Promises, Teen Romance, adrienette - Freeform, ladrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2019-08-17 13:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 68,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16517378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllysiaBanearrow/pseuds/EllysiaBanearrow
Summary: Post-reveal in the rain and immediately after the events of "A Model Friend" is when this story begins. They have a little chat on the phone about how to deal with school and their friends (and how Marinette is going to deal with everything!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! I decided to call this story "A Model BOYfriend" to touch back to the fic that started it all. I hope you enjoy this one as much as you did the last!

“Marinette, stop pacing for one second and look at me,” Tikki called to her chosen, floating in the middle of Marinette’s pacing circuit. The girl hadn’t calmed down since she returned from defeating the most recent Akuma, Firestarter. After her kiss with Adrien/Chat Noir, they had to get out of the rain that had started, so they recharged and transformed with little spoken between them. This was more because of Marinette’s brain exploding than for lack of trying to get anything articulate out of her from Adrien’s questions. He made sure she had his number in her phone, confirmed by the Kwami, before he transformed and headed home.

“But Tikki, I can’t! I can not process this right now. All this time, my crush has been flirting with me in a black leather suit?!” Marinette shrieked.

“Well, technically, it’s a black leather _magic _suit, but yes. I’ve known for a while now, but because of our desire for secrecy, I couldn’t tell you. I’m sorry that this is so shocking to you right now, it was never my intention to-”__

__“He knows I’m Ladybug!” Marinette said again. Tikki sighed, this was not the first time she’d heard this line from the frantic teen._ _

__“Funny, you were able to call on your Ladybug charisma to make that line about his tears not matching his eyes, but you can’t call on it now to calm down enough to think clearly? Tomorrow is Friday and you have school, what are you two gonna do?” Tikki rationalized, causing Marinette to stop dead in her tracks and look the floating red and black spotted god in her eyes._ _

__“School. I have school tomorrow. Where I’m going to have my Physics test and have to see Adrien, tomorrow.” Tikki could see the wheels turning in the girl’s head as her face fell. With a seemingly monumental effort, Marinette took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and let it out. “Okay, okay. I think I’m done freaking out. Maybe. I need to figure out what we are going to do about tomorrow.”_ _

__“Shouldn’t you call Adrien and ask what he thinks before you start making plans?” Tikki offered helpfully. This brought some of the panic back into Marinette’s eyes, but Tikki’s glare caused her to calm down again._ _

__“Um, I have his number from when I tried to ask him out before, and that failed miserably.” After another steadying breath, she continued, “Okay, I can call him. It’ll be easy because he won’t be here just on the phone. Talking to me. In my ear.” Marinette blushed so badly her ears turned red._ _

__“You can do this Marinette! It’s just a phone call, nothing more. Believe in yourself and you’ll be fine,” Tikki glided to her chosen then nuzzled against her face. Marinette always felt better whenever Tikki was nearby, so the movement of her tiny friend made her smile._ _

__“You’re right, I think I’m ready!” Marinette quickly grabbed her phone and went to her bed. Laying down to stare up into the cloudy sky still swollen with rain, she held her phone up, easily navigating to Adrien’s number. She hit the call button, placing the phone to her ear, waiting for him to answer and hoping he was still awake._ _

__Across town, in his massive, empty bedroom, Adrien was grinning ear to ear staring up at his bare ceiling from his bed. Everything about today had been amazing, well except for the Akuma attack, but even that wasn’t too bad. He had kissed the girl he loved and he was on cloud nine. He had barely noticed that she was flustered afterword because of his excitement. Tikki had told him that he should get home and out of the rain, that she would get Mari home safely, so he trusted her._ _

__Thinking back, the glow of their first kiss fading a little, he realized she hadn’t said much of anything after everything that he told her. She never said she felt the same as he did, just that she forgave him. She’d never said the words he suddenly, desperately wanted to hear her say._ _

__“Plagg, I don’t think I should have left as quickly as I did. I’m worried about Marinette,” He admitted, but he was also worried he’d jumped the gun with kissing her. Had she moved into him, or did he pull her into it?_ _

__“Well, too late for regrets now, lover boy,” Plagg teased in his usual good-natured way. Adrien could tell the floating cat cared for him, even if he rarely showed it._ _

__“Maybe we should go back, make sure she made it home okay.” Adrien got up from his bed and started to walk toward the window when he heard a buzzing from his nightstand. Looking towards the sound, he wondered who could be calling this late. It was past midnight, so maybe it was Nino wanting a sudden, late-night gaming battle, but Plagg’s laugh told him it wasn’t his best friend._ _

__“Well, looks like not only did she make it home safe, but she wants more of Mr. Model Agreste!” The Kwami jeered as he picked the phone up and brought it to his chosen, the screen reading Marinette. Slight panic passed over Adrien’s face as he took the phone, mere seconds after Plagg dropped the phone with a smirk. He glared at the cat who simply floated away to give the boy some privacy._ _

__Adrien slide the phone open and answered the call with, “Hello?”_ _

__A squeak on the other side was all he got for a long time, but before he could start to panic that maybe she was in trouble, he heard, “Hi, A-Adrien.”_ _

__With a sigh of relief, he said, “Hi Marinette. Is everything okay? Did you make it home safely?” He heard her on the other line stammer for a few seconds, making his heart warm. He thought her stammering was cute._ _

__“Y-yeah, I did. Thanks for asking! Um, I had a question I was just thinking about. Well, Tikki brought it up, so it wasn’t me. I was still thinking about our k-kiss and, um, everything so, yeah um about t-tomorrow, um. We have school. And our friends will be there. So I was, well, we were kinda wondering how you and I were handling tomorrow. It is just me or is it weird to think about you and I and um…” He could tell she had buried her face into a pillow or something because she sounded muffled on the other end. He had to remain calm, for her sake, so he tried to answer as best as he could to calm her concerns._ _

__“I hadn't really thought about tomorrow, either, so you aren’t alone in that aspect. As for us, well, yeah I suppose we should start trying to figure out where we stand. I told you how I felt, but,” he paused, making sure she was listening before, “you never said how you felt. I mean, I guess you feel the same way because of the kiss, but I also don’t know if I did anything that made you feel like you had no choice. I don’t want to force anything on you, so-”_ _

__“No!” she shouted into the phone loud enough to make him pull it away from his ear. Shocked, he pulled it back slowly to hear what else she was saying. “I mean no, you didn’t force me to do anything, I know you aren’t like that. You’re too kind to do that, even as Chat Noir I knew you would ever do anything like that.” Her words warmed his heart and his face all at once. When she continued, however, a chill ran down his spine. “Come to think of it, didn’t Ladybug confess she had strong feelings for a certain model a few patrols ago? After he gave her an umbrella?”_ _

__She seemed to be channeling her alter ego a bit because she didn’t stammer once throughout the declaration. This time, however, he became flustered and he had a feeling that whenever she did, he would become Chat from habit. He stammered, “Y-Yeah, about that. I guess you kinda did tell him, I mean me, that a little while ago.” He sat heavily on the edge of his bed, head resting on his hand._ _

__“That was after the photo shoot. After you said you knew who I was. So tell me, Kitty, why didn’t you come clean sooner?” He could practically hear her cock an eyebrow at the question, an action she did sometimes as Ladybug._ _

__“Well, I was planning on it, My Lady, but I c-couldn’t find the right words to-” Giggling from the other side of the phone caused him to stop speaking. Suddenly, he glared at nothing as he answered, “Are you teasing me, My Lady?”_ _

__“Maybe, if only to calm myself down. Tikki has been trying to get me to relax since I got home because…” After a long pause, and checking to make sure the call hadn’t dropped, he heard her whisper, “I love you. I realized it that day in the rain.”_ _

__His heart could have exploded with how big it felt in his chest just then. “You know what I find kinda funny?” At her questioning sound, he continued, “That all of this started on a rainy day. And it’s raining now, too. I guess rain is fateful for us, Mari.”_ _

__He heard her sigh on the other end of the line, before, “Say it again, please.”_ _

__“Say what?” He questioned._ _

__“The nickname you gave me.” She clarified._ _

__“What, My Lady? Princess? Or perhaps Purrincess?” He was smiling at her giggle._ _

__“No, Adrien. My nickname,” her tone indicated she was rolling her eyes in annoyance, but only in a playful sense._ _

__“Oh, of course, you mean ‘Mari’. How about, My Mari?” He listened closely for her response, only to hear muffled squeals of joy from the other end of the phone. “Too much? Sorry, I’ll to re-fur-ain myself. But it’s gonna be hard, I’m too claw-ver for my own good sometimes! Purr-haps you can help me every meow and again to contain myself.” The squeals on the other end turned into near hysterical laughter, so he took that as his cue to stop. He had effectively calmed her down, so job well done. “Now that you sound better, shall we get back onto the topic of tomorrow? It’s nearly one A.M. and we both need some sleep for the test tomorrow.”_ _

__After several more seconds of her trying to just breathe, he finally heard, “Yeah, you’re right. Phew, okay I think I’m good for the test, thanks to your help. But I really wanna know what we are gonna do about us tomorrow.”_ _

__He waited for several seconds, trying to see if she had any idea. He would have been fine with going into school tomorrow and just acting like a dating couple on tv and movies he’d seen, but he wanted to make her comfortable first and foremost. She’d always been clumsy and shy around him before, and now it all made sense as to why, so whatever he could do to help he would do._ _

__“Well, I was actually wondering if we could hide it?”_ _

__That, however, shocked him. “Hide...what?”_ _

__“Well, hide that we’re together, if we’re together. Um, are we?”_ _

__He had to admit that he hadn’t expected that from Marinette. He’d never known her to hide much from anyone, but then he remembered she had been hiding at least one major thing from everyone just like he was. Alter egos._ _

__“Um, well I guess I’m just confused. We’ve had feelings for each other for so long, even if we didn’t know it, so I figured we could just be boyfriend and girlfriend. Is that, is that not what you want?” _Please say no, please say no, _he begged her silently.___ _

____“I-I would like it very much if you would make me your g-girlfriend, Adrien. I agree that I’ve loved you for a long time, but you as Adrien have never shown any interest in me in school, so it might be a little weird. The whole school knew I had a crush on you, well, except you,” she explained._ _ _ _

____“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I’m sorry for that, it wasn’t my intention to hurt you all those times I called you just a friend. Ugh, I feel so stupid.” He was blinded by the glory that was Ladybug, not noticing the very Ladybug-like girl so close to him all along._ _ _ _

____“Right, um, well that’s what I mean. Aside from everything since Monday, I was j-just a friend.” As she stammered out the words, he smacked his forehead with his palm. How many times had he said that to or about her?_ _ _ _

____“I have a feeling I will never live that down with you, will I?” He silently prayed she would let him slide, but it was not to be, surely._ _ _ _

____“I understand why you acted the way you did, Ladybug was perfect and not clumsy. She was able to talk to anyone and everyone, she’s braver than I’ll ever be, after all, so-”_ _ _ _

____“Stop,” he said, all teasing and self-agony put aside. “Stop doing that right now, I can’t allow you to put yourself down, not while I’m listening. I was stupid, I think we’ve established that, but we were both blinded by our alter egos, just in different ways. Last weekend opened my eyes and now I can never not see you as Ladybug or her as you. You’re more similar than you realize, and I love you for that.”_ _ _ _

____He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard small gasps that sounded like she might be crying. His sudden anger forgotten, he almost apologized when she spoke. “Y-You’re right. Sorry for upsetting you. I guess I never saw the Chat Noir in you because I simply didn’t want to. I never wanted to know who was under the mask, but tonight made me realize you are like a subdued Chat.”_ _ _ _

____He never thought about it that way before, but the longer he was Chat Noir, the more he became more like his alter ego. Standing up to Chloe, the rare pun, finding more enjoyment in every little freedom he was given and even asking for more from his father._ _ _ _

____“I think we can make this work, but we have to set down some ground rules,” Marinette said, drawing his attention back to her. His heart soared at the thought._ _ _ _

____“Anything, so lay them down. The rules, I mean,” he corrected, realizing how that might have sounded and closing his eyes tightly in anguish._ _ _ _

____A giggle, then, “Well, I think we’re safe as our alter egos and each other with shows of affection, but we can’t mix the two.”_ _ _ _

____“Mix the two?” He repeated._ _ _ _

____“Yeah. Like Ladybug can’t get too close to Adrien, and Chat Noir can’t flirt with Marinette. If we mix superhero with civilian self, that could cause problems.”_ _ _ _

____He realized what she meant. Between the Ladyblog and larger new stations, if Chat was seen kissing Marinette or Ladybug kissing Adrien, word would get out and spread. Quickly. “I understand, Mari. We’ll have to be careful about where and who we are when we interact. Next?”_ _ _ _

____“Well, since we are going to be d-dating,” that cute stammer again made him want to squeal a little, “I think we should take it a little easy in school, at least for a little while. Everyone knows how I act around you, whenever you touch me or talk to me, even in a casual and friendly sense, I just lose it.”_ _ _ _

____Thinking back, he could imagine every touch he’d ever given. They’d danced so close at Chloe’s party, holding hands, patting her shoulder, draping his arm around her shoulders, and even pushing her down a few times to save her from one thing or another. He found himself smiling about all of them now._ _ _ _

____“Yeah,” he found himself saying dreamily._ _ _ _

____“Yeah, so I just need to, um, get used to it? I guess, um, if that’s okay?” The worried note in her tone brought him back from memory lane._ _ _ _

____“O-of course, right. Sure, we’ll go as slow as you need to. With touching. I mean-” he sounded like he was asking for more than what he meant to and he wasn’t sure how to correct it._ _ _ _

____“Um, I think I understand. So, holding hands, I should be okay with that. M-Maybe your arm around my shoulder,” she sounded unsure to his ears._ _ _ _

____“Hey, how about we just agree to do what feels right in the moment and if either of us crosses a line, we’ll back off a bit. Deal?” He knew he would always only go as far as she was comfortable with. “Or, I can just let you make the first move if you’re more comfortable that way?”_ _ _ _

____“Um… Ugh, this is so weird. I’ve had so many dreams about you that everything is getting jumbled!” She gasped at her admission as if she didn't intend to. He blinked at the phone, holding it from his face for a second before putting it back to his ear to hear her stammering apologizes._ _ _ _

____“It’s okay, but you do have this cat’s curiosity piqued. Care to share any of those dreams, Purrincess?”_ _ _ _

____“Well-I-um-hehehe, maybe, I mean no! We don’t have time for that!” Marinette heard his playful snicker on the other end of the line, he knew it, and grunted angrily. “I know you’re doing that on purpose!”_ _ _ _

____“Purrhaps,” the smile was in his voice, causing her to groan at the cat pun. He cleared his throat and tried again to speak. “Okay, seriously now, I think as long as we’re careful about crossing identity lines, at least as long as we are in public, we should be fine. I will take your lead on this, as usual, My Lady.”_ _ _ _

____He couldn’t see her smile, but he imagined it was soft and loving. “Okay. We’ll take things slowly. I’ll add in that I don’t mind Chat visiting me, and I doubt you’ll have a problem with Ladybug visiting, but we just can’t be caught.”_ _ _ _

____“Of course, this cat is very sneaky when he wants to be. Just watch out for the security cameras around my house. The few that see you the better.”_ _ _ _

____“Right, well I think now that we have that all settled, at least for now, we should be good to-”she had to stop to yawn. He checked the clock and saw that is was past one in the morning, nearing on two._ _ _ _

____“I’ll let you get your beauty sleep, though I doubt you need any. But rest is important, so goodnight Mari,” he nearly purred into the phone, but covered it with a cough._ _ _ _

____“Yeah, my head and heart need some time to recover. Sleep well, Adrien.” Even though she seemed done talking, the phone was still going._ _ _ _

____“Marinette?” He asked._ _ _ _

____“Hmm?” She responded._ _ _ _

____“We have to hang up the phone,” he said with amusement._ _ _ _

____“Oh, right. Goodnight, Kitty.” Her using Chat’s pet name instead of his real name caused his cheeks to warm a little._ _ _ _

____“Goodnight, My Lady.” With a quiet click, she hung up and the line went dead. He crawled into his bed, pleasantly surprised that he was able to easily drift into sleep, with sweet dreams of the day that was to come for him tomorrow._ _ _ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, time to go to school on Friday! Where Marinette runs into Alya and Nino. And Adrien. And... Chloe. UGH!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie, I agonized about this chapter for a while. I just couldn't get some of the key elements right. I hope I made this chapter good for you guys and I look forward to reading your hate comments below about what Chloe does. So, um... Enjoy? *throws chapter up and runs to hide in a dark corner*

Getting ready for school that Friday morning took longer than normal for Marinette, and a lot of that was not because she was running late. In fact, it was the opposite, she had gotten up early to prepare herself mentally for the day since she had hardly slept the night before. Talking with Adrien on the phone was amazing, especially considering she didn’t stutter or stammer too much, which was a great achievement and she was proud of herself. But now that she was preparing for school her nerves began to take over. Tikki tried to calm her chosen down, and it helped a little, but so many thoughts were racing through her head.

Should she let him hold her hand? Could she handle that or would she freeze up in the middle of school? What about hugging? Or kissing? As the questions rolled through her mind, so did images, vivid ones. Each one making her blush deeper until she could have sworn smoke began coming from her ears.

Her hands went to her earrings, lightly brushing them as if she could call upon the confidence of her alter ego. With a deep breath, she exhaled and pulled out her phone. She sent a quick text to Alya, asking if she was at school already.

 **[Yeah girl, what’s up? You oversleep again and want me to cover for you?]** Alya asked.

 **[No, didn’t oversleep, just wanna know if you can ask Nino to switch places with me today?]** Marinette texted back, feeling nervous for asking.

After a few seconds, there was no response, so Marinette went about gathering her things to leave for school. “Come on Tikki, time to face the day.” The kwami zipped into her little bag and Marinette made her way down the stairs to leave through the bakery. After grabbing a couple of treats for herself and Adrien and saying goodbye to her parents, Marinette made her way across the street to see Alya waiting for her on the stairs to school. She seemed frozen until Marinette called out, causing her to look up, dazed.

“Sorry, I was trying to understand the text you sent me. Do you wanna sit next to Adrien?” Alya asked, shock and disbelief on her face.

“Um, yeah. I guess I do. Well, I wanna sit with him to go over my notes to make sure I understand enough to pass the test. You know, the Physics test we have today,” Marinette rushed to clarify. Alya raised an eyebrow.

“Uh-huh. Sure that’s the _only _reason?” When Marinette didn’t answer, Alya asked, “How _did _studying go yesterday?”____

_____ _

_____ _

“It went fine, I think I have a better grasp on what I was having trouble with.” _I for sure have a better grasp on my love life, _Marinette finished mentally. Alya was about to say something when Chloe walked up to them, bumping Marinette and almost knocking her down the stairs, but Alya caught her arm preventing her from falling.__

____

____

“Move it, baker girl!” Chloe sneered as, with a flip of her hair, continued into the school. Marinette almost got angry and said something back, then a sudden commotion behind her stopped any response she had for Chloe. Marinette turned to see Adrien stepping out of his car and greeting Nino in their usual handshake. Marinette’s face instantly burned red, which Alya saw as she bumped the girl’s shoulder.

“Chloe aside, wanna tell me again how yesterday evening went?” Alya whispered with her hand hiding her mouth as Adrien looked up to see Marinette. She saw his eyes soften upon seeing her and a sweet smile spread along his face as he approached. Marinette tried valiantly to keep the blush away from her face, but she settled for calming it down instead of hiding it completely. She saw Adrien give a tiny, silent chuckle as he made his way up the stairs with Nino at his side. 

“Morning Alya, Mari,” Adrien greeted them.

“Morning Adrien. Marinette was just telling me about your awesome tutoring yesterday. Right ‘Mari?’” Alya teased, bumping her friend again who blinked, stunning her and drawing her attention from Adrien’s lips.

“Yeah, totally! Tutoring was amazing! Everything was amazing, I mean I learned everything amazingly!” Marinette quickly corrected, wanting to bury herself into the pavement at her feet.

Adrien reacted easily. “Well, it helps when the student is open to learning new things, right?” He tried to help calm her by placing a hand on her shoulder, hoping his calming touch and subtle joke would help.

She almost jolted at the contact, but it had a similar effect. “Right! I’m always open to learning new things. Anything else you’re good at, Adrien, that you could tutor me in?” Marinette called on every ounce of her alter ego, and Chat responded in kind, pulling his hand back suddenly as Marinette’s stance changed. She transformed from shy Marinette to shifting her weight on one foot, hip out to one side just like Ladybug would stand sometimes. Adrien blinked a few times before responding, seeing the effect he had on Marinette by the slight joke about “learning new things.”

“Well, there is fencing I could help you in. Or, since you're into fashion, maybe I could teach you about the runway and photo shoots since your last one didn’t go as planned.” He offered, keeping his voice steady and waving his hand for emphasis. 

“Hmm, I guess I’ll have to let you know about that later. You gonna stay for lunch today or do you have a photo shoot?” Marinette asked. Alya and Nino had moved aside to talk quietly about Marinette’s request. They had stopped talking as they watched their friends so casually converse.

“Something is going on,” Alya whispered to Nino, causing the boy to blush a little at how close her lips were.

“Y-yeah, for sure. My man is normally calm and collected, but he looks a bit shaken up by Marinette suddenly. And she has changed too,” Nino offered, turning to Alya, causing her to lean back a bit. She looked at him and smiled.

“I’ll figure it out, don’t worry. So, wanna sit next to me today?” Alya offered.

“Sure!” Nino grinned broadly, and Alya thought he looked cute in his honesty.

“Nope, I’m eating here today, per my request to my father,” Adrien nodded in response to Marinette’s question, a proud look on his face. “No photo shoot today until after school, so you have until then to come with me.” He glanced to Alya and Nino and, seeing them not looking at them, he added, “My Lady.”

At the use of his name for her alter ego, all previous confidence dissipated like a deflated balloon. Her cheeks blushed deeper and she closed her eyes, fighting a squeal while trying to hide behind her backpack, but Adrien’s hand on the bag stopped it from covering her face. Grabbing the handle, he pulled it and her inside the door to a shadowed bench inside the school.

“Hey, I’m sorry, did I-”

“No, you’re fine,” she cut him off quickly. “I tried to mentally prepare, and clearly I failed,” she admitted around a nervous laugh.

“If it helps, I think it’s cute,” Adrien answered, hand going to the back of his neck as he rubbed absently. 

Marinette’s hand rested lightly on the bag she hid Tikki in, feeling the tiny pressure of Tikki touching it back. As if the tiny god empowered her, she placed her hand over Adrien’s who was still gripping her backpack handle. “It’s fine. I’m fine, or I will be once class starts.” She smiled up at him and, after a deep breath, she asked, “Wanna sit together in class?”

The offer startled Adrien for only a moment, before he smiled back, saying, “Sure! That’d be okay with me.”

 

Relief flooding her mind, she stood up to take a step away before turning back to him. She went into her backpack and brought out a croissant and handed it to him. “I don’t know if you’re hungry, but I snagged these from my parent’s bakery.”

Adrien’s eyes lit up as he saw the pastry, taking it and biting into the flaky crust. “It’s delicious, Mari. Thanks.”

With cheeks dusted pink, Marinette smiled and bit into her own pastry, finding it just as good as they normally were. She swung her backpack onto her shoulder and started to walk away, only to have Adrien grab her hand, effectively stopping her. When she turned back to see him, his face was turned up to her, eyes shining with happiness.

“Mind if I walk you to class, Princess?” He said softly, pushing himself up to stand beside her. 

“Sure thing, Kitty,” she replied, gaining a bit of that Ladybug charm back into her voice, almost causing Adrien to melt at her feet. He released her hand and they walked up the stairs together as several people watched the interaction. Nino and Alya, who were hiding by the door stared at their friends, glanced at either other, then back to the pair as they ascended the stairs side by side. Hushed voices of the duo could be heard as they may their way into the school building, but someone else was still watching the pair walking upstairs.

“Who does she think she is?! Trying to make moves on Adrikins! He’s _mine! _” Chloe spat out, sky blue eyes narrowing harshly as her face contorted with anger.__

____

____

“Maybe Adrien was just being friendly?” Sabrina offered, trying to calm her friend down. It didn’t work.

“No, I have to do something. Make him realize that she is low-class, and isn't worthy of him!” Chloe sneered, pacing a few feet away before walking back. She did this several times before the bell rang, causing her to groan in frustration and start heading to the classroom. She would think of something soon, and when she did the baker girl would regret ever even looking at Adrien that way!

It got worse for Chloe when she realized that Nino had switched seats with Marinette, causing the girl to sit beside Adrien! The nerve! A quick glance saw that she had her Physics homework out, with Adrien leaning over and nodding his head as he scanned over it. He’d never offered to help Chloe with her homework, Sabrina had always done it for her! How dare he! And, was she seeing things or were their arms touching on the desk? They were! Oooooo, she was going to get it, once Chloe figured out just what to do. With a flick of her hair, she strutted to her seat, Sabrina following quickly behind her.

The teacher called the class to order and Marinette put her homework away. Adrien and Marinette still sat just a bit closer than would normally be needed for the long benches that served as the seating in their school. As the class went on, everyone took notes accordingly, all except for Chloe. She still glared at Marinette and saw every little touch, every tiny giggle, and even the slightest blush that crossed the baker girl’s face. And every single one of them made her blood boil even more as she plotted and schemed her downfall.

By the time the lunch bell rang out, Chloe was feeling ill at all of their subtle signs of affection. She had to wait several seconds before standing to head to the door. While seated, she leaned over and whispered something to Sabrina. The other girl’s eyes widened as the plan was laid out before her by Chloe, but she nodded grimly. As Sabrina went to go gather what was ordered of her, Chloe decided to keep a close eye on the pair while they went to lunch

Adrien, Marinette, Alya, and Nino made their way down the stairs and towards the front door to the school where they set up their lunches. Alya and Nino combined their lunches while Marinette reached into her backpack to get hers, but she noticed Adrien simply watching everyone. He didn't seem to have brought his bag with him, so Marinette figured he’d forgotten his lunch in the class.

“Adrien, where’s your lunch? Did you forget it in class?” Marinette asked.

“Oh, well, you see… I forgot to even bring one. I was just so excited that my father let me stay here, I didn’t grab the one my chef made for me. It’s okay though, I’ll eat later.”

Marinette, feeling bad for Adrien, pulled her lunch out of her bag and opened it between them. “Y-you can share mine if you want. It’s probably nothing like what you’re used to, with your personal chef, but it’s homemade with lots of love.” Realizing what she said, she hastily added, “By my parents! Because they have a bakery! Um, yeah.”

He chuckled softly, causing Marinette to giggle too. She was being silly. This was Chat Noir, her flirty Kitty, and here she was stumbling over him. He reached down to grab a piece of pie, only to find a nasty roach walking along the recently set down lunch box. Marinette noticed Adrien’s pause and looked down only seconds before screaming and tossing the food sideways and away from them. The lunchbox bounced down the stairs to land in a crumpled heap at the very bottom, with strewn food everywhere along the stairs. Marinette began to apologize but stopped when she heard callous laughter behind her.

Marinette swiveled around and up into the face of Chloe Bourgeois, with Sabrina a little behind her as she roughly wiped her hand with a wet wipe. “Well well, looks like the little Dupain-Cheng bakery isn’t all it’s cracked up to be if they have roaches! Gross and disgusting! Adrikins, are you okay? You almost touched it!” Chloe went from scathing to crooning as she directed her attention from Marinette to Adrien.

“I know you had something to do with this, Chloe! Your _friend _seemed to be along with it too. You just ruined our lunch!” Marinette shouted, seeing red. She felt Tikki in her bag poking her hip trying to calm her chosen down, but she ignored it and glared daggers at her long-time tormenter.__

____

____

“Moi, why how dare you! I didn’t even touch your lunch, Marinette, so how could I have possibly done anything!” Chloe glared right back while Alya pulled out her phone to record this and Nino tried to stop her. Adrien stood, wanting to stop the pair from fighting, but not sure what to say. Finally, he made up his mind and turned to Marinette.

“Mari, it’s okay. You know what? I bet we can get some more at your place, and since it’s not that far from school, there won’t be any problem with us eating there too,” he offered, kindly and calmly, placing a hand on Marinette’s arm. Marinette felt her cheeks getting red with anger as she still glared at Chloe, who had a smug look on her face. Marinette closed her eyes, took a deep breath in, let it out and, placing a hand over her bag, she looked away from Chloe.

“You’re right Adrien. We can go eat at my place. Maybe we can play Mecha Strike again too. We had so much fun last time we played,” Marinette tried to say calm, choosing to focus on Adrien’s hand on her arm and not Chloe.

“Sure! Bet I’ll beat you again, for real this time,” Adrien said as he winked at her.

“Not a chance! No cheap shots this time!” Marinette actually smiled then as she felt more than saw Adrien’s hand slide down to her own, holding it gently. She gripped it a bit tighter as she led Adrien back towards her parent’s bakery, hearing pigeons flock to come and eat the discarded food.

Chloe was speechless. She watched them go, up until they walked into the bakery and lost sight of them, then slowly turned her gaze to stare at Alya and Nino. They looked dumbstruck too, Alya having filmed all of it. With a groan of anger, she stormed back inside the school building with Sabrina still scrubbing her hands. Chloe got into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, dialing the first speed dial that was answered after the second ring. 

“Hello, Daddy…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was okay for you guys. It is shorter than normal, but again I agonized over this chapter, putting off finishing it until a few moments ago. Next chapter should be easier as I'll be more in my element. See you in the next one!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunchtime at the Dupain-cheng household. Chloe's plan goes into action. Marinette's parents find out as well as Alya and Nino. What could possibly go wrong as 2 lovestruck teens admit their relationship to those closest to them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was much easier to write, and I'm very glad about that. I don't have a stockpile of chapters this time, so I am writing them, editing them, and posted them once they are done, so I thank you all very much for your patience. If you want me to stick to a schedule (like post one every Sunday or something) let me know.
> 
> I also want to say I have been reading every comment even if I don't respond to each and every one like in the last piece. That inflated my comment count and I don't want to mislead anyone finding this work anew. I won't delay you anymore, so enjoy!

Marinette said as little as possible to her parents, which was still too much, as she practically pushed Adrien up into the living room and away from prying eyes. Adrien, polite as always, answered every question her parents threw at him, while all Marinette wanted was to get them both food before school started again. Once they topped the landing to the living room, Marinette sighed with relief and shut the door behind them. With an exhaustive grunt, she pushed herself off the wall and went to the fridge.

“So, any idea what you want? I can make something quick, like sandwiches, or we have some leftovers I can heat up,” Marinette offered, as she looked at the 3 different selections of containers within the appliance.

“Whatever you’re in the mood for, Princess,” Adrien said, his voice coming from much too close to have been anywhere but right behind her. Marinette jumped at hearing him, causing her to bump her head on the top of the small fridge. With a groan, she pulled herself out of the appliance, rubbing the back of her head.

“Well, we have some pasta from last night. That should be enough to share.” 

“Sure, sounds good. You okay?” he asked, moving his hand toward the bump she was still rubbing.

“Y-yeah, fine. It just hurts a little, nothing serious!” Marinette took a step back, away from his reaching hand. Adrien dropped his hand to his side and turned to head into the living room. She saw the hurt on his face, and felt horrible that she might be the cause. “Hey, I’ll pop this into the microwave and we can sit and talk over here,” she offered as she grabbed the container from the fridge. She kicked it closed, put the container into the microwave, set the correct time, and walked to one of the stools set up by the island they used for a table. She looked over to where Adrien was sitting on the couch, staring at her as she patted another stool near her. He pulled himself to his feet and sat where she had indicated, still looking sad.

“I still make you nervous, huh?” Adrien said, giving voice to his inner thoughts.

“Well, this is still kinda new to both of us, right? I’m getting better, I promise, I just don’t want you to waste time worrying about me,” she admitted. Tikki floated out of her bag and sat on Marinette’s head while she saw Plagg poke his head from Adrien’s shirt pocket.

“Not worry about you? That’s kinda my job as not only your partner but as your boyfriend, right? I don’t want you hurt.” Hearing him say that caused her to blush, but she smiled all the same.

“Then I have the same job, don’t I? As your partner and girlfriend.” This time, it was his cheeks that heated.

“Well, guess you can say that without any problems,” Adrien teased to cover his own rising blush.

“Told you I’m getting better, Kitty,” Marinette teased back, running her finger along his chin. Adrien’s eyes widened at the sudden contact, but he found himself relaxing against her touch. Marinette, seeing the change in him, smiled warmly at the very cat-like position he had put himself in. As his cheek rested on her palm, she moved her thumb to brush against his cheekbone, just as she would a cat. A sound, very similar to a cat’s purr reached her ears, and she started looking around as if a cat had wandered into her house. When she found out that it was Adrien making the noise, she froze and stared at him. Instantly, the purring stopped and his eyes shot open, to stare horrified at Marinette.

“Ummm, I can explain.”

“Were you purring?”

“Ummm, no?”

“That’s what it sounded like.”

“You must be hearing things!” He said, defensively, lifting his head up from her hand and looking away. She saw the hint of red along his cheeks, and she giggled at his bashfulness.

“I think I was hearing things, very adorable things that I don’t mind in the slightest,” she responded, laughter in her voice. He grunted and she was about to say more when the microwave beeped. With a sigh, she stood to portion out their lunch onto plates and brought them to the table. Going back to the counter again, gathering utensils, she brought them with her back to the table again before sitting down to eat. “I hope you’re still hungry because the food is ready. We have a little time, but not much since we still have to make it back before the bell.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said as he turned back to start eating. Before he took his first bite, he glanced at her and asked, “you sure that wasn’t weird?”

“Of course not, Adrien. I really do think it’s adorable, though I wonder why.”

With a sigh, Adrien started eating, but in between bites he explained. “Well, since I got my miraculous, I’ve started doing more and more cat-like things. My stance, my lithe moves and balance even when not transformed, and, it seems, purring when I’m happy.” For several long moments, they just ate quietly as Marinette absorbed his words.

“Well, I’m glad I make you happy. If you can believe it, I thought for sure I’d never measure up to Ladybug.” As Adrien started to respond to that, she stopped him with, “I know that we are the same person, but I’ve always felt different. Tikki has told me over and over that Ladybug is me and I am her, but no one had made that connection yet, not even you, my partner.”

Adrien thought for a moment before responding. “I believe we each act as our truest selves when we are transformed. I get more freedom and feel like what I do not only matters but also helps Ladybug do her job. Being just Adrien, I’m forced into this tough schedule that I have no control over, with little thrown in I enjoy. I’m glad I’m in fencing, it helps a lot with being Chat Noir, but piano? My father forced that on me. Believe it or not, for a long time I just set my phone up to play the scales Father wanted me to practice and go out to be Chat Noir.”

“Oh Adrien, I had no idea. I mean I knew you were busy and your dad was kinda strict, but I never knew it was that bad! He can’t be allowed to do that!” It was Marinette’s anger caused her face to warm this time.

“And that right there,” Adrien exclaimed as he touched Mari’s shoulder, “Is exactly what I’m talking about. That bravery and righteousness when you feel someone is being treated unfairly, that is your connection to Ladybug! Sure you’re a little clumsy and Ladybug isn’t, but both are kind and care about everyone, even the enemy we defeat. That makes you as much Ladybug, as my little acts of defiance against my father make me Chat Noir.”

She had never thought about it before, she just automatically acted and did what she thought was right. She had to admit, he was right in this sense, and that acknowledgment made her reach out and hug Adrien. He froze at the contact a moment, then he relaxed and embraced her, leaning his head on her shoulder. It was seconds later that she felt a wetness on her shoulder, instantly realizing that Adrien was crying. “It’s okay Adrien. You’re amazing for everything that you do, even when you don’t want to.”

As they pulled back, Adrien whipped his eyes on his sleeve, but he was smiling. Marinette’s eyes softened as she looked at him, and was about to say more to comfort him, but a commotion downstairs had them both turning toward the door. Holding up a finger to pause his question, she got up to stand by the door. Raised, indignant voices echoed their way up the stairs in muffled sounds. She knew someone had entered the bakery, but didn’t recognize the voice. But when she caught the words “health inspector” she froze in utter shock. Throwing the door open, she stormed down the stairs, and pounding feet behind her told her Adrien was following.

When she reached the bakery, she saw what was going on. Several people, some well dressed and others with gloves, began searching the front end of the bakery. Marinette panicked for a few moments, eyes scanning everywhere until she caught from across the street a flash of blonde hair and yellow. _Chloe! I know this is your doing! _Marinette thought, anger filling her body, but a calm hand on her shoulder caused her to turn, seeing Adrien’s face close to hers.__

__“Hey, it’s okay. They won’t find anything. Your parent’s bakery is the best in France, so you have nothing to worry about.”_ _

__With a sigh, she nodded and turned back to the inspectors and strode up to her parents. “What’s going on here, gentlemen?”_ _

__“They say we are getting a surprise health inspection!” her Mama answered, trying valiantly to keep her voice level but obviously distressed. She took a deep breath and leveled her gaze at the inspectors._ _

__“Go ahead, you won’t find any problem here. Mama, Papa, let these men do their jobs so we can get back to work.” She watched her parent’s shocked stare turn toward their daughter. They saw a calm, young woman who was taking charge, just like they always wished she would become. Her father smiled from behind the counter, and her mother hugged her tightly. Adrien hung by the doorway to the upper apartment for a few moments, as the gloved people walked past him into the back, then moved to stand beside Marinette just as her father did. He smiled reassuringly at Marinette and her parents._ _

__The inspection was over quickly, more due to the small space than lack of an extensive search, and the uniformed people began filing out. One person hung back, he seemed to be in charge as he spoke to the gathered group of adults and children. “I must admit, this is the finest bakery I have seen in a long time. Hardly anything out of place and everything is well maintained. Keep an eye on your mail, because I am rating this establishment as an A+ bakery and you may want to hang that up somewhere. Forgive the sudden intrusion, but we got an anonymous tip and were requested from higher up to look into it immediately. Have a good rest of your day.” The gentlemen tipped his hat and walked out of the shop._ _

__Marinette kept her calm until the man was out of sight, then she stomped on the ground like a child. “That Chloe! I know she did this!”_ _

__“Chloe? That girl who tried to call you a thief for stealing her bracelet?” her Papa asked her._ _

__“Yes, Papa. She is angry that Adrien and I were sharing a lunch outside of school, so she-”_ _

__“You and Adrien were sharing a lunch, Marinette? Dear, did you forget yours at home?” her Mama asked Adrien._ _

__“Um yes, I did. Sorry for causing you all such trouble,” Adrien apologized, with a little bow._ _

__“Oh nonsense, you are always welcome here, Son! Marinette, perhaps you can start bringing extra food from now on, just in case he forgets again?” Papa added. Marinette blushed at her father’s use of “son” but Adrien either didn’t catch it or didn’t care._ _

__“I’d be very grateful for that, thank you!” He beamed at her parents, who instantly warmed their expressions to the eager young man. Then, as one, they seemed to notice how close their daughter was to the boy as their shoulders were almost touching._ _

__“Um, Marinette. Is there something you need to tell us?” When she didn’t answer, her Mama continued, “About you and this young man, Adrien, was it?”_ _

__With a nod, Adrien answered for Marinette. “Sir, Madam, that is my name, Adrien Agreste. I would like to ask that you allow me the honor of dating your daughter.”_ _

__“Agreste… you mean that boy plastered all over your room, Marinette?” Mama asked her hotly blushing and freaking out daughter._ _

__“Son, I have seen you before and you seem like a very kind and gentle person. I give you my permission, but know that I will be watching you both. She is my little girl, after all,” Papa answered after placing a hand on Adrien’s shoulder. Marinette felt like she could die of shame._ _

__“Of course sir, I have only honorable intentions for your daughter. I care about her very much,” Adrien started talking to her parents, but towards the end, he turned to the quickly shrinking Marinette at his side. He grabbed her hand, attempting to strengthen her, and it seemed to work if only a little._ _

__“Y-yes Mama, Papa. I care for him too. T-thank you f-for, um, accepting him?” She wasn't sure what she should say, but a glance at the clock behind them caused her blood to run cold. “Adrien! We have 2 minutes to get back to class before we’re late!” She tried to release his hand, but he gripped it firmer._ _

__“We’ll make it. Sir, Madam, please excuse us,” Adrien said quickly before rushing with Marinette out of the bakery._ _

__“Ooooh, they are so cute honey,” Mama said, holding her husband’s arm._ _

__“They remind me of us at that age, dear,” Papa said as they watched them leave. “Welp, time to get ready for the next rush. We’re gonna be busy after that distraction.”_ _

__“Marinette said she would help us afterward, but school is more important,” Mama giggled and, with a little shake of her head, they both got back to cleaning up and baking._ _

__By the time they reached the door and walked into class, the bell rang and both Marinette and Adrien were out of breath. They were also still holding hands. Chloe saw them, and glowered deeply as anger settled over her. Nino and Alya both stared at their friends, both out of breath from running, but Alya had the best reaction. Her jaw nearly hit her desk as the pair moved, slowly, to take their seats. She leaned down to Marinette, seated in front of her, and whispered, “What is going on? You have got to tell me everything!”_ _

__Marinette glanced back, smiled shyly, then turned back to the front. She grabbed a small piece of paper, wrote something down, and discreetly passed it back to Alya. Alya opened the paper to glance at the contents and a stunned look passed over her features. She jolted to a stand, shouting, “WHAT?!”_ _

__The whole class turned to her, including their teacher. Ms. Bustier glared at Alya as she shyly sat back down into her seat. It took several minutes before the class got started again, and Nino beside her kept begging for answers from her._ _

__“Alya, tell me what’s up? You’ve been frozen for, like a long time now!” he whispered to her. He finally leaned over to see the slip of paper Marinette had given her, and shock registered on his face very similar to that on Alya’s. “‘Adrien and I are together?!’ But how is that possible?” He directed the question to Adrien, who leaned back a bit, smiling._ _

__Alya snapped out of it long enough to glare at Marinette. “How-what-how did this happen? I’ve literally been trying to get this to happen for so long and it, suddenly just...happened?!”_ _

__Marinette giggled softly, passing her another note. “‘I’ll explain after class.’ Oh, you know it girl!” Alya chided, crossing her arms and sitting back to suffer quietly through the rest of class. Nino kept trying to get anything from Adrien, who just kept shrugging._ _

__As the day wore on, Adrien and Marinette each thought about how to approach their friends about their budding relationship. So, when the final bell rang and the susurrus of the other students gathering their belongings to leave for the day, Alya and Nino stood quickly to block the path of their friends. They waited until they were alone in class, before Marinette took a breath, preparing to explain as much as she could._ _

__“Alya, let me explain,” she began, before her friend threw herself at the pigtailed girl. Shocked at first, she recovered and hugged her. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. We weren’t sure about how to really do that, honestly.”_ _

__“I’m just glad you’re so happy, finally!” Alya gushed to Marinette._ _

__“So, which of you feel like filling us in. How did this happen, exactly?” Nino asked Adrien more than Marinette._ _

__“Well, it happened during that Akuma attack while I was tutoring Marinette,” Adrien offered as much of the truth as they could, looking to Marinette as Alya released her to explain._ _

__“R-right. I was really scared, and Adrien was being so brave to protect me. S-seeing him like that, being so brave and trying to calm me down so I wasn’t scared, gave me the confidence to admit my feelings,” Marinette continued for him, looking at his easily hidden smirk. They seemed to be on a similar wavelength to each other, sticking to as much of the truth as they could._ _

__“Mari’s admission was a little shocking, but I realized that I had the same feelings and we just kinda, clicked. Right, Princess?” Adrien cocked an eyebrow, catching her hand and kissing it before their friends, causing Marinette to giggle._ _

__“I guess you can say that, though I’ll never forget how sorry you were about that photo shoot.”_ _

__“And I also said you would never let me live that down, and it seems I was correct,” Adrien groaned, against her hand. Marinette turned her hand in his to rest against his cheek._ _

__“I said I forgave you then, and I still do. You really didn’t do anything wrong, it was Lila,” Marinette said, spitting out the name like it was poisoned._ _

__“Speaking of Lila, she hasn’t been back to school since that day you gave her that restraining order. I bet she transferred by now,” Alya added, glaring at nothing in particular._ _

__Laughter echoed from the classroom as the four of them gushed over more details of Adrien and Marinette’s new relationship, while Chloe watched from outside the door._ _

__“You will pay for this, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! If you think Lila was bad, just wait until you see what I have planned for you next!” Chloe growled as she stormed off to get into her limo and go home, plotting something worse than she had done today._ _

__When the group finally left the classroom, Adrien and Marinette hand in hand, they walked downstairs and to the entrance of the school only to see Adrien’s ride already waiting. The Gorilla was waiting by the door, holding it open for him._ _

__“Sorry, guys I almost forgot I have a photo shoot today.” He let go of Marinette, rushing down the stairs before turning back and looking at her again. “Did you decide if you wanted to come with me?”_ _

__Panic started to build up in her, but she quickly pushed it down and turned to her friend. “Alya, can you tell my parents that I’m going with Adrien to his photo shoot?”_ _

__“Sure thing girl, no prob. I’ll want all the deets later though!” Alya winked as a broad smile spread across her face._ _

__“Sure! Coming Adrien!” She adjusted her backpack on her shoulder as she walked down the stairs. It seemed she walked too quickly because she tripped and started to fall. Adrien moved instantly to catch her, causing them both to land on the ground in a heap with Marinette on top of him. Realizing she was in a position very similar to yesterday night on his bed, caused her face to heat quickly. “I-I’m so sorry, A-Adrien! I didn’t mean to-to..”_ _

__“It’s alright. Are you okay?” Adrien put his hand on her shoulders, gently pushing her into a sitting position as he sat and checked her over with his eyes. She didn’t seem injured, so he sighed in relief._ _

__“Y-yeah, I’m okay. Let’s go, though, your bodyguard looks upset.” As Adrien turned, he saw that indeed the massive man was irritated but worried too. Adrien stood, reached out to help Marinette to her feet where, together, they waved to their friends and got into the car. The Gorilla closed the door with a grunt, got into the driver seat and merged onto the road._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chloe called the health inspector! OMG, I thought about that and I was worried like "Would she really do that?" Then I remembered, she tried to have the entire school closed down for good in Maledikator (sorry, spoilers). This was something she would absolutely do. But what will she do next? I'm so glad Marinette is getting braver little by little, warms my heart. Also, another photo shoot! What do you think will happen with this one?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another photo shoot (why do I like writing these things again? Oh yeah, because the subjects have little control over how they act!)
> 
> Anyway, photo shoot, new Akuma, some fluffy shenanigans, and a lot of nicknames!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter meets both of our standards. I changed this more than I usually do, so hopefully, it didn't affect the story too much, but I'll go into more detail at the bottom of the page!

The shoot started like any normal shoot he had done before. Granted this one was a bit smaller than the last one Marinette had been at, probably because there was no changing this time which he was glad of. Even if this photo shoot was more normal, it still excited him because Marinette was with him, his girlfriend. His heart swelled just being near her and shrank every moment he wasn’t. He was head over heels for her, in such a short time, and it felt amazing. Her eyes, her hair, her smell, everything… he loved it all. Now, the next time they fought an Akuma, they would fight as an even better team, he just knew it.

But did he?

Did he really know they would fight better because they knew each other’s identities, and loved each other?

His train of thought was cut short as they pulled up to the shoot location, as his bodyguard came around to open the door. Adrien scooted out first, followed by Marinette as he reached out his hand to help her out of the car. She smiled at him, and all prior worries were washed away as they walked up to the photographer. 

“Ah, Mr. Agreste! Welcome, welcome. Come, quickly, sit up there and pose for me! Happiness is what we need today, so smile big!” the man instructed as Marinette walked to stand aside and out of the shot.

“Sure, is this good?” Adrien asked, calmly. At the other man’s smile, he took it as acceptable as the snapping of the shutter rang out. Adrien’s eye started at the camera, but drifted to Marinette before long. He saw her cheeks, pink with warmth beneath the skin. She had her body very close, ankles touching and hands balled up in front of her, as if she feared relaxing and bumping into something. Or maybe she was just uncomfortable. 

When she realized he was watching her, her cheeks darkened and she gave a small wave. The movement cause him to smile wider at her with the snapping of the camera still being the only sound. 

“Mr. Adrien, I need you to look into the camera with your eyes and smile.”

“Sorry, Mr. Vincent,” apologized Adrien, eyes flicking back to Marinette as if to apologize to her too. He saw her giggle softly, the slight movement of her shoulders catching his attention for a moment longer before the photographed cleared his throat, drawing his back to the camera again.

Minutes ticked by as time seemed to slow down for Adrien. All he wanted was to be with Mari, but he had to make these stupid poses for the camera. He stuck it out long enough for them to call a break as the memory card was full. With a heavy sigh, he made his way over to Marinette, cheeks hurting but still smiling as she watched his approach.

“You make a good model after all, Kitty,” she teased quietly as she reached up to set some of his hair back into place.

“Hey, I told you that months ago. You doubted me, didn’t you?” He loved that tiny giggle he seemed to cause in her and how the sound seemed to travel down his spine like the piano he hated so much. It made him stand a little straighter. He was careful not to touch her, but his every instinct in that moment was to wrap her in his arms and hold her close to him. His arms ached to do it, but he retrainted himself…until her arms slipped around his waist.

“I did, but I don’t anymore. You, Adrien, are my favorite model.”

After only a moment, his arms found their way around her shoulders, holding her close as her head rested against his shoulder. His face in one of her pigtails, he noticed she smelled like flour and shampoo, a mixture he would never forget. He sighed contentedly and he could swear she was smiling against him, making his smile even bigger and arms hold her tighter.

“Down, Kitty, not too tight. I’m not wearing my suit,” she teased, causing Adrien to pull back suddenly, afraid he hurt her. Her laughter showed she was fine, so he playfully scowled at her.

“Not funny, My Lady!” he responded in a hushed tone. Her broad smile made him even happier, if that were even possible. A call from Vincent had Adrien turning to the photographer and away from Mari. It seemed his minor break was over and he would have to return to modeling for the camera. _I’d rather be modeling for Mari,_ the words floated through his mind. His smile weakened as he looked back at her once more before turning to return to his place. He did as he was told, smiling and posing at first, frowning and looking sad second and any other emotion he was directed to be feeling. His gaze still flicked to Marinette every once and a while, so he noticed when she sat on the ground and pulled out her sketch book and began drawing. 

She was chewing on the end of her pencil, his eyes on her mouth when he was suddenly made aware that he had stopped posing. Vincent made a disagreeable noise, frowning at the teen causing Adrien to look apologetic. The eyes of the photographer followed his model’s gaze, seeing the object of his attention and sudden brightened.

“Ah, forgive me Mr. Adrien, I should have known! Perhaps the young Miss would like to join you in the shoot?” Vincent addressed Adrien but looked at Marinette who glanced up just then. Realizing that he meant her, she tried to speak but her boyfriend beat her to it.

“I’m sure she’d love to, right Mari?” Adrien held his hand out for her, one eyebrow raised in a very Chat-like maneuver. Marinette blushed as both sets of eyes were on her. Adrien saw her inhale deeply before standing and walking to him, taking his outstretched hand. He was beyond proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone, and he let it show in his eyes. She smiled, a little nervous, and seemed to call on a little of Ladybug as they took their position in front of the camera. 

“Ah, perfect! Now, smile for me!” After several snaps of the shutter, he looked from behind the camera, frowning. “No, no, I’m not feeling it. Ms. Mari, please show me your best! Give me a smile that would make the Mona Lisa jealous!” 

Adrien glanced over at Mari, checking to see her reaction, but she kept her face calm as she practically transformed before him. Her stance shifted again, from closed to open and downright flirty if he thought so himself, as she posed for the camera. Even a rampaging Akuma would have paused to see. The look of determination that took over her face and flared brightly in her eyes had him feeling very Chat-like again, but he fought it down. He had to be Adrien to his Lady.

“Ah, yes! That is perfect! Hold that there!” Several more snaps were heard as the photographer took picture after picture in quick succession. 

Posing as directed, Marinette did surprisingly well as the shoot wore on. After what must have been an hour since the start of the shoot, Marinette started to relax into it, and Adrien was still happy. Vincent, however, seemed to finally get bored of normal emotions as he sat back from the camera to stare at the couple of teens.

“For the last, I need something more powerful. Stronger than happiness and sadness. An emotion that could bring both out in people, I need love!”

Both teens blinked in surprise, cheeks heating. “Ah, yes, I know! The connection between the two of you is perfection! Show the world the love you feel for one another! Romeo and Juliet, it’s perfect! Personify them, be them! You are them! Now, show me the love!” With a smile, he got back to his camera and waited for them to begin. Adrien watched Mari carefully, trying to read her comfort level. She hadn’t moved since the photographer had started speaking.

“Mari, it’s okay, we can end it here if you-” Adrien started, but she turned to him then, stopping whatever he was going to say.

“It’s okay,” was all she said before she hugged him, followed quickly by the snapping of the camera’s shutter. He was getting used to holding her, like she belonged there all along, as his arms wrapped around her. 

Several more shutter snaps before Adrien registered he wanted more from the young couple, so this time he drew from his alter ego. With a flourish, he stepped back and away from Marinette, bending down on one knee and capturing her hand in his. Slowly, he bent his head down to the hand he held, kissing it gently and holding there as the camera captured the scene. His eyes never left Marinette’s face, green orbs staring lovingly up into her blue ones as her cheeks heated.

“Yes, yes! Perfect! Fantastic! More, more!” Vincent encouraged, capturing the change in Marinette from blushing in shock, to the softening of her eyes as love filled them. Love for her silly Kitty. 

Finally, Vincent called the shoot over, and Marinette sighed with a hand over her heart as Adrien got to his feet. He pulled her into his arms, causing her to take a step and lose some of her balance, but not enough to make her fall. She closed her eyes into his embrace, nuzzling her head into his neck as his back straightened. She felt his jaw set, as he seemed to be fighting another purr, causing her to giggle softly.

“It’s alright if you react, silly cat. I kinda like it,” she whispered up toward his ear, craning her neck to do so. Adrien’s eyes darted to her face, seeing the sly smirk on her lips reminding him of Ladybug.

“Oh really? Well, how’s this for a ‘reaction’ than?” he answered as he cupped her head in his hands to kiss her lips softly. Well, at first it was softly, but a subtle shift in her body caused her to press more firmly into the kiss and he felt her pull him just a fraction closer than they had been before. Her hands went up his back, pressing against his shoulders as he moved one of his around her waist and he felt her fingers grab at his shirt. Something lit within him that he hadn’t felt before, a desire he couldn’t recognize as he held her and his words earlier that day came back to him. “I have only honorable intentions towards your daughter,” he’d said, but his reaction now seemed to shift that answer, if only a little.

Their quiet moment, that everyone present was now witnessing, was broken by the sound of the snapping of multiple cameras at once. Adrien’s eyes shot open as shouts erupted from around them, the voice coming from Vincent.

“Get out of here! This is a closed photo shoot, get lost or you will be sued!” He was waving a tripod around as a weapon, causing the gathered paparazzi to scatter. He stormed back over, throwing the piece of equipment down to the ground as he began angrily gathering the rest of his things to leave.

“Um, sorry Adrien, I just, um, kinda…” Marinette stammered, cheeks a fiery red. 

“It’s okay, Marinette, I’m more worried about you. Those types always post their photos quickly. I hope my fans don’t come after you. I’ll have to talk to my father about them before they reach publishing,” he explained quickly as he took Marinette back into his arms. At a call from Natalie, who was on the phone with someone, they were forced to separate to begin leaving.

Adrien’s bodyguard was walking toward the car as Adrien followed with his arm around Marinette’s shoulders when they heard a flapping sound. Both teen’s eyes went up, spotting the purple butterfly easily against the orange of the setting sun. Their eyes followed the path of the butterfly, heading right to the angry photographer, Vincent. Marinette, being just a bit quicker than Adrien, pushed away from him suddenly, causing him to look at her in shock.

“Adrien! We have to take care of this now!” He blinked at her sudden change, not registering what she was talking about. Take care of what? Them? Transform now to get the Akuma, in front of everyone? He need not have worried, because her next words made him realize what she meant. “We have to stop those people! I can’t have a picture of us out there, not like that! Your fans will tear me apart and I can’t take it! Let’s go track them down, right now!”

Catching on, finally, he set his posture. “Right, I know where they’re from, let’s go Mari!” With a little smile on her face, she nodded and took off with him right on her heels. Natalie and his bodyguard forgotten and left behind them, Mari ducked behind a building just out of their view. He was only a step or two behind her. “Quick thinking My Lady.”

“He’s right, that was brilliant!” Tikki gushed at her chosen. Plagg groaned from his hiding spot.

“Next time you two feel like making out, leave me out of the middle, please!” At Plagg’s words, Marinette dissolved into blushing and stammered apologies. 

“Plagg, that wasn’t nice! We need her at her best!” Tikki chided the black cat. 

“Not nice, but true, Sugarcube,” he responded as he floated over to Tikki.

“We’ve have enough out of you. Tikki, you take care of Mari while I hold off the Akuma. Plagg, transform me!” The Kwami got sucked into his normally silver ring, changing it black as he transformed. Chat Noir looked from Marinette to Tikki, whom he nodded to before pole-vaulting away back towards the photo shoot location.

He was just arriving as the Akuma took hold of the poor photographer, sinking into the hand-held reflector just as he was reaching for it. He transformed into a macabre version of himself, outlandish colors and outfit covering his body. Chat Noir saw the butterfly outline glow around his eyes, and he felt bad for the poor man. He was a very good photographer, always passionate about capturing just the right angle in lighting and pose. Chat sat on a light post nearby, and heard more than saw Marinette swinging up to him. He jumped, landing near where Ladybug had stopped.

“He was a good man, My Lady. We have to save him.” He said, sadly.

“We will Chat, I promise. Where is his Akuma?” She asked.

“In the reflector in his hand.” With a nod, Ladybug swung herself closer to the Akuma, while Chat followed on the ground running on all fours.

“I am Freeze Frame, I will capture Paris in the perfect moment!” Freeze Frame pointed his camera and reflector at a pigeon flying by, lined up his shot and clicked. The pigeon froze in place, wings spread beautifully mid-flap. The two superheros gawked a second at the power of the Akuma as he turned their direction. “You two! Give me your Miraculous or I will capture your essence, forever frozen for all to see!”

“Not a chance Freeze Frame!” Ladybug shouted as she whipped out with her yo-yo, trying to grab the reflector. The villain moved quickly, jumped away and tried to snap a shot of Ladybug, but Chat stood in the way, turning their faces away. The light engulfed them, but neither was frozen.

“What?” He looked confused, the butterfly outline once again showing as he listened to Hawk Moth from his lair.

“Chat, are you okay?” Ladybug asked, worry in her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine bugaboo, but perhaps we should leave quickly and regroup. We need to figure out why it didn’t work on us.”

“Right, though I have an idea. Let’s go!” Swinging her yo-yo, she caught onto a rooftop behind them and launched towards it as Chat used his pole to vault up toward it. Freeze Frame shouted at them to return and began chasing them as the heroes fled, hiding somewhere close but out of sight.

“So, you have an idea, My Lady?” Chat asked, as he peeked around the corner of the chimney they were hiding behind. Freeze Frame was still searching for them, but was quickly losing his patience as he began snapping anything that moved.

“Yeah, this power is similar to Pixelator, but he doesn't send people to photos on his wall, he freezes them in place. The Akuma is in his reflector, not the camera, so maybe we have to see the flash in order for it to work on us?”

“So, look into the light instead of look into the lense? Good thinking, bugaboo. So, ideas on how we defeat him?”

“Well, I don’t want this to take too long, as I have a date to get to, so you distract him while I use Lucky Charm. Don’t look at the flash!”

“Date? My Lady, shouldn’t you ask me first?” He teased in typical Chat fashion.

“Oh, silly Kitty, I meant patrol tonight,” she smiled as she saw his face fall before adding, “But, if you ask me, I might just say yes this time.”

She flicked his bell and Adrien felt his cheeks heat under his mask. Her giggle, that tiny sound he was growing to love more and more, echoed between them. He nodded at the plan, both of them, snapping back to the problem at hand as the snapping of Freeze Frame’s camera captured another poor soul in still life photos. As Chat prepared to distract the Akuma, Ladybug held her yo-yo calmly.

“Lucky Charm!” she shouted, throwing her yo-yo high. Power swirled, and Adrien was taken in once again by how beautiful she was. The power stopped with a little flash, as two pairs of sunglasses dropped into her hands. They were both red with black spots, as normal, but different styles, one with cat ears on them the other, more standard.

“Well, I doubt we are supposed to smile for the birdy,” Chat teased. “Have you ever gotten two items before?”

“No, but I know just what to do with them!” Whispering in his ear quickly, he nodded and stepped out from hiding.

“Well now, if you wanna capture a masterpiece, make sure you get my good side!” Chat called as he strolled casually up to Freeze Frame.

“Sure thing, alleycat, just hold still!” The villain called back, lining up his shot. The photo snapped and he smirked, believing he had the hero right where he wanted him, but shock registered on his face, then anger. 

“I’m sorry, I think you misunderstood. This is my good side!” Chat, now wearing the pair of sunglasses Ladybug had given him, was still walking slowly toward the villain. Freeze Frame backed away slowly, snapping several more shots, but still failing to freeze his victim. Chat got out his staff, extending it to a length he could easily control, and began to run at Freeze Frame.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Still snapping, he grabbed a short tripod from behind him, and threw it at Chat Noir. Chat wasn’t quick enough and stepped on the tripod, tripping over it and the protective eyewear fell off and bounced along the roof. “Now then, smile for the birdy, kitty cat!” Taking aim, Freeze Frame snapped the picture, but his reflector arm was jerked back suddenly. Ladybug’s yo-yo had wrapped around it and jerked it backward where she had snuck around the conflict, her action allowing Chat Noir to avoid the full flash and remaining unfrozen.

“Now, now, it’s not polite to point bright lights at people!” She turned the reflector on Freeze Frame, setting off the camera, quickly freezing him. She grabbed the reflector from his frozen hand, ripped in half and freeing the Akuma. She purified it easily, took both pairs of sunglasses and threw them in the air, shouting, “Miraculous Ladybug!” Magic swirled around, freeing everyone frozen by the power of Freeze Frame, looking around confused. Chat strolled over to Vincent, who looked confused too.

“Oh no! What happened? How did I get here?” He asked the superheroes, a moment before it registered. His jaw dropped. “I am so sorry, I was just so angry, and-”

“It’s okay, Sir. You didn’t hurt anyone, not really at least. Come on, I’ll help you get down from here and back to your equipment,” Chat offered, helping the man to his feet. He started to walk along the roof with the man when Ladybug’s earrings started to beep. “My Lady, I will catch up with you soon?”

“You can’t get rid of me now, Kitty,” she said with a flirty smile as she hooked her yo-yo on a lamp post and swung away.

Once Vincent was brought back to his things, Chat made a hasty exit. Knowing his caretakers would be looking for him, he vaulted back toward where he and Marinette had run, hiding where they had ducked in to detransformed. He poked his head out, looking for Marinette.

When at first he didn’t see her, a small amount of panic began to rise within him. But the sounds of jogging feet behind him quickly doused the worry he had been feeling as she called out for him.

“Adrien, I think I saw your bodyguard and Natalie this way, shall we go?” Marinette stammered, grabbing his hand and pulling him away. His eyes went down to their joined hands and, planting his feet, pulled her to a stop. She looked up at him, face still flushed with exertion.

“First things first, Princess,” he said as he pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead gently, causing her to close her eyes. “You worried me when you weren’t here.”

“I’m sorry, Alya saw me and wanted a picture of Ladybug, and I couldn’t say no so I couldn’t make it back before-”

“It’s okay, I know you care about everyone, and that’s why I love you so much,” he said as he smiled down at her, bringing the hand not around her waist to her cheek. Her eyes softened, he really understood her and loved her all the same. She closed her eyes, leaning into his hand much as he had done earlier that day. With a quick thought, she opened her eyes and, standing on her tiptoes, kissed his lips quickly.

“Thank you…for accepting all of me,” she said, sweetly. Adrien’s cheeks warmed, but he didn’t try to hide or look away, like she might have done. Instead, he simply held her close, vaguely hearing the beeping of the car as they were found.

“Thank you for the same reason,” he said quietly as car doors opened nearby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now for the changes I told you guys about. The reference to "Mona Lisa" and "Romeo and Juliet" while quick and in passing, were changed from Ladybug and Chat Noir by my Beta reader, which I do thank you for. That also included some minor edits around said changes. The second thing to change was the akumatized item. It was originally a hand-held flash and not a reflector. The third and final change was I threw a random Kagami in toward the end when Adrien was looking for Mari. she didn't do much, so my Beta told me to cut it and add her in later where she would have more impact.
> 
> Hope this doesn't change your view of the chapter, as the story does seem to flow a bit better now with the changes made, but I also wanted to be truthful with you guys. If you didn't want to know what was cut, I'll keep you all out of the loop from now on, but if you liked the small changes I made, let me know! Thanks for reading and get ready for Ch 5, as it might jump in time a few months.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien had to deal with his father after the photo shoot. He told his dad about him and Mari, but he as less than pleased. So, what do you do if you are a superhero dating another superhero and depressed? Go visit your girlfriend of course. 
> 
> A sleepover happens. Deal with it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter took so long to get out, but with the holidays we have been really busy. I am a chapter ahead again (finally) so I'll release it later on this week. Also, sorry for all the feels in this chapter. Don't hate the messenger.

Adrien shut his bedroom door carefully like he usually did, but it took great effort to not slam it to show his agitation. He had just spoken to his father, whom he hadn’t seen all week, and it was another reprimand that spewed from his harsh mouth. “You should be more careful with your image Adrien.” “You know better than to slip up like that.” “If I can’t trust you to be careful when your ‘friends’ are with you on photo shoots then I will no longer allow them to be there.” The words of his father echoed in his mind like the fluttering of Akuma wings. 

“Hey, you okay kid?” Plagg, who had been present for the entire thing, spoke up as he floated nearby.

“If I said ‘no’, would it matter?” Adrien hadn’t meant the hurtful tone his voice took, but it came out anyway and Plagg flinched slightly.

“Hey, I get it. Your dad is a jerk, but you’ve known that, right?” Plagg said, being uncharacteristically kind.

“Yeah, but I just thought maybe telling him about my feelings for Marinette might make him remember how happy mom used to make us. Now I’m starting to wonder if he loved her at all. Ever loved me at all,” he wondered, standing in front of his window.

“Well, I’ve been alive a long time, almost since the beginning of everything, and I can tell you people love in different ways. Your dad just may not know how to love again after losing someone he cared about.”

“But I’m still here, and I need him!” Adrien punched his window, making his white knuckles turn red from the force. The glass didn’t break or even crack, and that almost frustrated him more than had it broken and cut into his hand. Warmth on his shoulder caused him to look, where he saw Plagg on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. He looked like a kitten, curled up against the spot where his neck met his shoulder. With great effort, Adrien regained control of his emotions again and placed a hand on Plagg. “Hey, maybe I just need to be more patient with him. Mom’s loss was hard on both of us. She was always the best of us, after all.”

Adrien turned to look at the pictures of his mother on his many computer monitors in his room. With a determined look, he said, “Plagg, I think Chat Noir needs a little pick me up from his lucky charm. Come on, we’re going to Mari’s!”

Without waiting for the Kwami’s response, Adrien called out to transform. Turning back to the window, he slid it open easily and climbed up to the sill. Night had fallen, but it wasn’t so late that he had to go to sleep for his busy day tomorrow even if it was a Saturday. With ease, he lept from the window to the wall encircling the house and up to the rooftops.

****************************

Marinette had just finished getting ready for bed when, while she was sketching in her design book, she heard the voice. It sounded both like her boyfriend and not, as it was muffled from behind the window of her balcony hatch. Muffled or not, the tone was painful to her ears, causing memories of a not-too-long-ago experience to the forefront of her mind.

“Marinee-e-tte.”

“AAAHH!” She threw her sketchbook down at where Nightmare Adrien had appeared last time, not realizing the sounds came from above her in her panic. It hit the floor with a thud while a squeak above her caused her to glance up, into the worried face of Chat Noir. “No, not again!”

“What? Mari, it’s me!” Her very real boyfriend climbed down, carefully keeping a distance in case she had something else she wanted to throw at him.

“Ch-Chat Noir? I mean, Adrien? Is it really you? I’m not dreaming, am I?” She looked next to her, where Tikki had been woken up from her chosen’s scream of terror. She floated to Chat Noir, pulling on his cheek, causing him to grunt in pain.

“It’s not the Nightmare, Marinette,” Tikki confirmed.

“Nightmare? Wait, are you talking about that little boy who got akumatized into Sandboy? I was your nightmare? But, I thought-” Hurt registered on Chat’s face, making Marinette blurt out everything in a rush.

“Adrien, no. I mean yes, you were my nightmare, but that was a you saying things like you loved Chloe and wanted to have three kids and a hamster named Marinette and your favorite flower was Chloe and calling her pretty and smart and-and,” she groaned, hiding behind one of her pillows on her bed.

“Woah, woah, easy Mari. I get it. I...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you so bad. If you want, I can leave so you can calm down.” Marinette could hear the sadness in his voice, just like when Ladybug had broken his heart by not showing up to the date he had set up for her.

He had started to retreat the way he’d come when she grabbed his wrist. He looked back at her, and she just smiled. Because of his mask, she couldn’t see his real eyes, but what she saw in his green cat’s eyes was a deep loneliness that she wanted to wash away, if only for a little while. “It’s okay, Adrien. That was a long time ago, it was just the way you called my name sounded like the nightmare. But you, you’re no nightmare. You’re my dream.”

Something inside him broke as he threw himself into her arms, surprising her, but she held him anyway. He detransformed, Plagg flew out of his ring and moved to sit beside Tikki while Adrien just melted into Marinette. She knew something must have happened, but had no idea what, so she just waited and held him close. After a little while, he pulled back so he could lean against the wall of her loft bed.

“My father,” he began while Mari steeled herself, “gave me a hard time. I told him about us since everyone else knew, but all he cared about was the trouble I’d caused him about the photos of us. Even the ones Vincent took, he didn’t like any of them. Wouldn’t even let me keep one.” 

Now she understood, and it made her angry. She’d known well that his father was very strict, could even understand it a little bit with his mother’s passing in that accident, but to go to this length. To try and crush his young son’s happiness in this was too much for Mari. She had every intention of transforming and storming over there to give the cruel man a piece of her mind when Adrien spoke again, shattering her ideas of leaving.

“I couldn't stay there, in the empty house. Empty of love and empty of good memories I used to have. I had to get out, even if for a little while, so I don’t have nightmares again.”

“A-again?” His eyes widened, seeming to realize he’d let too much slip. Trying to hide her curiosity, she started by saying, “It’s okay, you don’t have to-”

“Nightmares of my mother’s death. Her leaving like she always did when she went on a trip, and then watching the news reports of the crash. I used to have them a lot, but now I only have them when I’m really upset.” The words seemed to tumble out easily from him once he started speaking. Mari didn’t know what exactly happened to his mother, no one did, only that she was in an accident and passed quickly. It was around that time that his father became reclusive, never leaving his house. A few months later, Marinette and apparently Adrien had gotten their Miraculous and transformed the first time.

“I’m sorry, Adrien. I wish I’d known you then, I would have made sure you never felt lonely. Or, well, I would have tried, but with my stuttering problem, it may not have helped,” she said, trying to lighten the mood if only a little. He looked up from his feet he’d folded on her bed and into her eyes, a small smile showing.

“I wish I’d know you then too, your smile would have been enough.”

A burning in her eyes told her tears were not far, so she bit her lip to try and stop them. She couldn’t cry, not when he was already so upset. She had to be strong for him and she wanted to be. So, she smiled. It was a little wobbly, but a smile nonetheless. “I hope this helps.”

After a moment, he laughed. She frowned a moment before he explained. “No, no, I’m not laughing at you. Well, I am, but not because of that. Your crooked smile finally broke through the sadness, making me laugh.”

“Well, that was the point, so mission accomplished?”

“Definitely,” he said through his quieting laughter, wiping a happy tear from his eye. He looked around then, taking in her room again from this new angle. “You really do have a lot of pictures of me.” 

A shriek escaped her lips as her cheeks burned, causing him to chuckle again. He crawled to the end of her bed, looking down and spying the sketchbook on the floor where she had thrown it. She peeked around the pillow she had tried to smother herself in, only to see his bent over form as her cheeks burned even hotter. He climbed down from her bed, grabbed her sketchbook and made his way back up to sit down and flip through it.

“Hey, you’ve added more since the last time I saw it. I knew you were talented, but some of these are really amazing. I hope you make some of these one day, I would love to model them.”

“Oh please, don’t! Some of those aren’t finished yet!” She tried to grab for it, but he moved it just out of her reach.

“This one is nice. Is that a wedding dress?” Adrien teased while still keeping the book up and away from her grasping hands. “I don't think I could pull it off.”

“Adrien! Give it back!” She exclaimed, grabbing for it again.

“Oh, I really like this one! Black leather, I think I look good it that, right Bugaboo?” Adrien waggled an eyebrow at her, making her groan and snatch the book away, but she still smiled at him.

“Oh kitty, I couldn’t imagine you in anything else.” She was really happy he was feeling better. Talking about the Sandboy’s Akuma, gave her an idea. “Hey, I know what we can do to pass the time besides flipping through my sketchbook. Why don’t we talk about something else?”

“Like what?” He seemed to not see where she was going, _just like Chat_ , she thought.

“Like last Valentine's day, and that poem you wrote for me. I wrote a reply, you know, it was on a heart-shaped card. When you didn’t say anything the next time we saw each other, I thought you never got it so-”

“So that was you? I thought it was from Ladybug. Well, I guess it was from her after all.” He was still smiling, seemingly thinking about the memory. 

“Yeah, I couldn’t remember if I signed it. Guess I didn’t. Ugh, I’m such a dunce!” She groaned, turning to bury herself in her cat-shaped body pillow. Adrien moved to position himself on his stomach next to her, keeping several inches between them in case she wanted him to move. She didn’t say anything, just peeked around her folded arms.

“No, you didn’t, but it was nice all the same. I still have it in my desk at home. What else have you given me?”

The scarf was the first thing that came to her mind, but she wouldn’t bring that up. He was already upset with his dad, if she admitted that the scarf was something she made, it would bring up more sadness and she didn’t want that.

“Um, well...I gave you that lucky charm, remember?”

“Right! I carry it with me everywhere!” He reached into his pocket, producing the simple trinket. With a smile, Marinette reached under one of her pillows and showed where she kept the one he’d given her for her birthday. “That’s where you keep that one?”

“Only when I’m going to bed. It’s like having you here, with me,” she said, cheeks blushing warmly again.

“Oh,” was all he could say at first. Finding himself quickly, he continued, “Well, I’m here now, so I guess it works, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she said as she averted her eyes realizing when he did that her words sounded weird. Suddenly needing to change the subject, she blurted, “I stole your phone once!”

“Wait, what?” He leaned away a little, eyeing her carefully.

“Remember when you couldn’t find your phone? That day the statue in our honor was being debuted?” _Why did you have to blurt that out?_ She chided herself.

“Yeah, that was a while ago. I remember you never showed up,” he said, sarcastically raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well the reason you couldn’t find your phone in the boys locker room is because I took it to try and erase a message I left and Tikki broke into your locker, not me but I couldn’t figure out how to work your phone so I kept it until Alya could help me figure it out and erase the message because it was sooo embarrassing!” She spewed the words quickly, just wanting to get everything out and done. Once she was finished she buried her face in her pillows again, groaning loudly.

It took Adrien several minutes to process what she’d just confessed to, but once he had, she heard the humor in his voice when he asked, “So, what did that message say, exactly?”

“Please don’t make me say it!” She begged, turning her face enough for him to see the red in her cheeks and ears.

“Oh, it must be good if it’s got you this red. Now I have to hear it!” Eagerness in his eyes, he stared at her. It was clear he was not going to let it go so, with great effort, she took a deep breath and prepared to recite the message aloud for Adrien’s ears.

“Are you sure you can’t just-” she tried to get out of it, but his eyes had such excitement in them, it silenced her. With a groan, she closed her eyes and recited, “Hey, hot stuff, this is Marinette. I’d like to ask you on a date to a movie, but I’ve got such a crazy crush on you that the only way I can talk to you without foaming at the mouth is over this stupid phone.” Once finished, she peeked an eye open, carefully. What she saw was not what she expected.

On his face was plastered the widest grin she’d ever seen on the young model, and she’d seen all of his pictures in magazines and online. He seemed genuinely happy that she had said such things to him, even if he’d never gotten the message. After a few moments, he said, “Why of course, Princess. I would be honored if you’d take me to the movies.”

“Stop teasing me!” she whined, pushing his shoulder. That seemed to break the tension as both teens fell into a fit of giggles. Once they had gotten control of themselves, any tension from before now gone, they talked for a long time. Going over their many interactions, seeing everything the other did in a new light, even those interactions as the heroes Chat Noir and Ladybug. The times Ladybug had saved Adrien, the times Chat had saved Marinette, while both different in their own rights were precious to them.

All the canceled outings that Adrien couldn’t make were bitter memories, so they didn’t talk about them much, only long enough to discuss when they could go back together again. No cancellations this time would be allowed. Adrien had brought up that student movie their class had done where they had almost had their first kiss. This caused both teens to blush and quickly change the subject again. All the villains they’d faced and freed, all the times they’d saved Chloe or Alya from Akuma victims, even that time when Dark Owl trapped them in that storage container. Their trust had been tested as superheroes while their emotions were tested as their civilian selves. 

They talked into the early hours of Saturday morning until Marinette started to sleepily lay her head against her pillows and Adrien. They had shifted from their stomachs to their back, arms touching and leaning side by side against the cat pillow on the back of her bed. She was still talking, but Adrien noticed her slurring her words like people he’d heard at his father’s parties after they’d had too much champagne. He didn’t want to leave, but he knew if he didn’t he wouldn’t be able to make it home safely. Slowly, he sat up and turned toward Plagg who had fallen asleep next to Tikki.

“Mari, I think I should go,” he said from his hands and knees as he crawled to his Kwami.

“Oh, really? Do you have to?” She slurred but started to wake up more when the black cat floated, sleepily, to his chosen.

“Yeah. My father will be wor-I mean looking for me if I’m not in my room when Natalie comes to get me. I have a few shoots set up for later this morning, but if I’m not there for breakfast…” He sounded so lonely when he spoke, that it brought Marinette more awake. She felt bad for him at the same time that she realized she didn’t want him to leave.

“I don’t want you to go,” she said before she could filter herself. He paused, in the middle of saying the magical words that would transform him, and turned to her again. The conflict visible in his expression, he tried several times to open his mouth and respond, but nothing came out. “It’s okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that I guess I’m more tired than I realized. It’s fine, I’ll be fine, I don’t want you to get in trouble, so-”

“Why?” He asked simply. 

“I don’t like seeing you so sad,” she answered honestly. Awake or not, she couldn’t filter her emotions this late at night. “Being stuck there, in the loneliness you’re surrounded by, somewhere I can’t help… It hurts me as much as I imagine it must hurt you. You always seem so happy at school that normally that I didn’t see it. But now that I know, I never want you to feel that way again. I l-love you Adrien, and I don’t want you to ever feel lonely again.”

He listened carefully to her, taking in every word and letting them sink into his heart and soul. He waited until she was finished as the words hung in the air before he tried to respond when he noticed the sparkle at the corner of her eye. She was crying for him, for his sadness and loneliness. Could he really turn his back on her and leave now that he’d seen her crying for him? No, he decided, so he grabbed his phone and quickly set an alarm to give him just enough time to make make it home and shower before Natalie came for him and settled back against the pillows with her.

“I thought you-”

“Changed my mind,” he said quickly, opening his arms for her to lay down against him. “I can’t leave my girlfriend in tears, now can I? What kind of boyfriend does that?” A couple more tears did fall, slowly down her cheeks before she laid against him. She buried her nose against his neck, her quiet tears quickly stopping as she became assured he wasn’t going back to that empty home he had come to dislike. He wrapped her in his arms, while also draping an extra blanket around them both, and his arm brushed against her bare shoulders. He’d never felt the soft skin there before, so he was very careful to make sure she was okay with it before he held her any closer. Seeing as she didn’t protest, and it seemed she was falling quickly to sleep, he did just what his instinct told him was right.

He held her closely, loving the feel of her against him and how well their curves matched. Her leg bent forward, sliding between his, innocently, and he froze for a moment. Her eyes snapped open at the same moment she realized what she had done in her normal attempt at getting comfortable. He looked down as she looked up, both of their faces and ears hot as they looked at each other. She knew he would not do anything to pressure her, push her one way or the other, and that it was up to her. Making her choice, face still heated, she snuggled closer to him and kept her leg where it was, careful not to move it too high to make him uncomfortable. She felt him sigh as he seemed to melt down into the bed they laid on as her arm snaked around his back. 

She fell to sleep in his arms, showing more than telling her comfort level with him being there. She might not feel the same way the next morning, so he promised himself to be as gentle as he could to avoid waking her up when his alarm went off. He was a light sleeper, so he set the sound low enough for him to wake easily, but hopefully quiet enough for Marinette to stay asleep. It felt right for Adrien to be holding Mari, and he savored every minute of it until he, too, fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've made it to the end of ch 5, congrats! Ch 6 is written, but I'm trying to stay a chapter ahead, so it won't be out until later in the week at least. My kids are out of school for the holidays, so I hope you don't mind waiting. 
> 
> Did you enjoy the little sleep over? I loved writing it, these two dorks are so adorable. Also, for the record, this fic is still rated Teen right now, so Adrien's "feeling" from the last chapter was not anything in the more adult nature. It was more like he went from puppy love to a more serious longer-term love. 
> 
> The feel in this chapter. Adrien's nightmares, the accident with Emilie... I'm so sorry but it had to be touched on. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe's grand plan finally comes out and it does not go how she planned. Not in the slightest. Adrien finds out and reacts strongly to his long-time friend's words and how his girlfriend reactions to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First: This chapter is the longest to date, over 5k words.  
> Second: Sorry it took too long, but with the holidays and the kids, not to mention the length of this chapter... it all took a bit longer to finish.  
> Third: It's not beta read, but I did take a day or two away from this and reread it myself, making some small edits so I hope this chapter is still okay.
> 
> Finally, after this chapter, I might have a larger time skip because I feel my older self itching to get these pair of kids more intimate and I'm not into 14 yr olds and heavy make-out sessions, so if I age them up, I will be changing the rating for my own piece of mind.

It had been a few weeks since their reveal as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and Marinette was getting more and more confident in herself every day. Holding hands while walking into classes was second nature now, small comments from Adrien didn’t light her face on fire as it had before, though he did reign himself in a bit while not transformed. Their classmates congratulated them both the first Monday back in school and it embarrassed them to no end as cheers went up around the classroom. Adrien couldn’t believe he was so blind for so long and Marinette was just a blushing, babbling fool. They were careful about being around each other when one was transformed and the other not, but when they were fighting Akumas there were no such restrictions.

Chat flirted just as he always had, only this time Ladybug responded in kind. She still felt more comfortable seeing Adrien masked and saying such daring things, even dropping a few choice cat puns that made him practically melt when on patrol. She’d giggle, wink and give a “come and get me, kitty” look and they’d race along the rooftops of Paris. Sometimes she’d let him win, sharing a few chaste kisses under the clear night skies of the city they protected. Word got out pretty quickly when Alya captured one such kiss that Ladybug and Chat Noir had finally seemingly gotten together, while Mari and Adrien looking appropriately shocked at the realization. 

Chloe watched the new couple carefully as the days came and went, becoming sicker as time wore on. She planned different ways to separate them but had to wait for the couple to actually separate first. They were always close together since Adrien started insisting that he have lunch at school instead of at home. It enraged her to no end. She hated seeing Marinette so close to her Adrikins. Hated seeing him flirt with her. Hated seeing him kiss her cheek. She had yet to see them kiss on the lips, and that gave her some glimmer of hope that maybe they weren’t as close as they pretended to be.

Her chance finally came when Adrien’s father insisted he do a mid-day photo shoot since he had to miss the last one. He had a fencing tournament earlier in the week and missed it, so he had to make it up today. Chloe had been waiting for this moment for a while, so when Adrien left for the photo shoot, she took her chance. 

Marinette, Alya, and Nino were having lunch in the schoolyard, talking amongst themselves. Chloe strolled up to them just as Nino was getting up to get a drink of water nearby. The words that spewed from the blonde’s mouth left the pair of girls stunned for several seconds, unable to respond at first.

“So, does Adrien know you’re just using him or have you not told him yet?”

Silence. Then, with a shake of her head, Marinette stammered, “Wh-what?”

“You heard me Dupain-Cheng! Does Adrien know you are _using him_? That’s the only reason he would have chosen you over me, anyway! There is no way you care about him as much as I do!” The haughty stance Chloe took, hip out to one side and hand on said hip, made Alya’s lip curl up in a sneer.

“You sure you have the capacity to care about anyone besides yourself?” Alya muttered as she put a hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

“You don’t know anything about me and yet you assume I’m using Adrien? For what?” Marinette clenched her hands into fists to hide the fact that she was shaking with anger.

“His father, obviously! Everyone knows you want to be a fashion designer, and his father is a very famous one. You, somehow, managed to convince Adrien that you loved each other so you could worm your way into his daddy’s heart too. What better way to become rich and famous quickly than to marry into a family already rich and famous? I mean, I applaud you and your dedication to your cause, but your charade is up! I figured you out and now that I have, Adrien will drop you like that horrible hat you made!” Chloe started to laugh while other students had stopped to watch the exchange, all of them shocked at what she was saying. All eyes turned to Marinette as her face became red with embarrassment. Only what no one realized was that it wasn’t embarrassment that colored the pigtailed girl’s cheeks.

“I… can’t… even… BELIEVE YOU!” Marinette shouted, loud enough for everyone watching and even those not to hear her. “How _dare_ you even think my feelings for Adrien have _anything_ to do with what his father does or doesn’t do or have! You are wrong on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin!” Marinette was standing now, arms stiff at her sides. Her rage burning in her eyes as angry tears ran down her cheeks. “Adrien is kind and wonderful, amazing and funny, braver and stronger than anyone I’ve ever met! He’s courageous and smart and everything I _wish_ I could be, and _you_ -you dare to think I love him because of what he _has_?! No, that sounds more like you! You and your hateful, selfish attitude towards everyone including your _only_ friend!"

__

__

Chloe had shrunk back because, as Marinette spoke, she had walked toward the blonde with tears rolling down her cheeks while she spoke the truth that was now seeping into Chloe’s bones. Marinette couldn’t stop herself from speaking aloud all the hurt and emotions she’d bottle through the years of teasing she had endured. Chloe had crossed the line by saying such things, but seeing her cower from Marinette made her realize herself again. Anger changed to sadness for the girl.

“I pity you, Chloe. You spew poison everywhere you go on anyone not immediately falling to their knees to please you. I refuse to let you win and, unless you change, you will lose Adrien as a friend.”

“W-why, are you going to make him leave me?” Chloe stammered, somewhere between sadness and snark.

“No, because soon he will see you for who you truly are, and if I know him like I believe I do, he won’t like what he sees. You need to let go of your attitude and change for the better. And for his sake, I hope you do it soon because he shouldn’t have to lose anyone else he cares about,” Marinette said as she started to wipe her tears away. She turned on her heel, gathered her lunch and looked at Alya who seemed to have recorded almost all of what had transpired. “I’m going home for a bit, tell Adrien I’ll see him later.” 

“S-sure thing girl,” Alya stuttered as Marinette didn’t wait for her response and walked away. 

Chloe, face red and fighting angry tears lest she run her eye makeup, stood from where she had stumbled and flicked her hair as she walked away. She tried not to let the words Marinette had said get to her, but she wasn’t totally convinced she could.

Nino came back to sit next to Alya, saying, “Woah, I only heard some of that. Tell me you recorded it!”

“You know it, look!” Alya showed her phone to Nino as they played the video back. Once it had played through, she met his eyes. “I have to send this to Adrien.”

“I’ll text him, let him know what’s coming,” Nino responded while he answered Alya and started texting his best friend. “I never knew Mari had it in her!”

“Me either, but I guess love does crazy things,” Alya said as she eyed Nino carefully. He noticed her gaze, and smiled nervously. 

“R-right, totally. S-so, have you sent it yet?” He averted his gaze, looking anywhere but in her beautiful brown eyes.

“Yep, it just got sent, might take a bit though. Guess we’ll see what perfect son and model Adrien Agreste thinks of his ‘friend’ and girlfriend cat fighting over him,” she said, her voice light. She tried to keep the worry out of her tone, but her gaze turning from her phone to the bakery sent all the message Nino needed. With a little smirk, he slid his arm around her shoulders, causing her to turn back to him suddenly.

“Hey, my dude Adrien will take care of Marinette and help her feel better. I know you are her best friend and all, but trust the boy to take care of his girl. It’s kinda the role guy’s play,” he said, trying to be smooth.

“Oh really? How would you handle this, then?” She teased, reaching up to move the headphones off his head to rest around his neck. The motion brought her a little closer to him, and her closeness unnerved Nino.

“W-well, I’d lay down the law with Chloe, that’s for sure, but that was after I checked on my girlfriend. Making sure she wasn’t upset or crying or something. Yeah, I’d see to my girl first.” He laughed, eyes flicking back and forth to Alya’s eyes, then her lips, and back again as she drew closer while he spoke.

“Hmm, yeah, that does sound like the right thing to do. Good to know you’re so honorable, Nino,” she replied with a wink. She stood up then and started to walk back inside, while Nino fought to calm his racing heartbeat and follow after her.

*************************

Adrien was just returning to the car, sliding into the back seat when he heard the pling of his phone, alerting him to a new text message. He unzipped his school bag and retrieved his phone, sliding to unlock it and read a text from Nino.

**[ Yo, Alya is gonna send you something you have to watch, it’s not good man.]**

_Oh no, I hope no one is hurt!_ Adrien thought as he waited for the video to be sent over. The car started while he waited for the video to arrive. He was halfway to school when his phone finally notified him of the incoming video message. Adrien slide his phone open, navigating quickly over to the video and played it. He first saw Chloe talking to Marinette, who had her back to the camera. He heard the harsh things she was saying to Mari, and it made him angry.

“I’ve talked to Chloe before about being nice, but this is going to far. I hope Mari is-”

“Can’t BELIEVE YOU!” Mari screamed through his phone, almost making his drop it. After adjusting the volume quickly, he brought the phone close to his face so he could watch and listen to his amazing girlfriend defend not only herself, but him too! He’d know she was amazing before, but hearing all the things she said about them and their relationship, it almost brought tears to his eyes. Then, when she turned back to the camera and, apparently Alya, he saw that while her voice had been strong and true, her face had not. Tears were streaming from her eyes as she turned from the scene and walked to the bakery. 

“Stop the car, now!” They had just reached the side road between the bakery and the school when the Gorilla stopped the car and Adrien opened the door to step onto the sidewalk. Natalie tried to call out to him, but he turned quickly and said in a rush, “I’ll go to school, just leave me here!” before walking into the bakery only to stop at seeing Mrs. Cheng at the front counter.

“Hello, how can I-Adrien? Honey, is everything-” She started, but he didn’t let her finish.

“Where’s Marinette?”

She blinked in surprise before she pointed to the stairs that lead to the apartment above the bakery. “Up in her room, I think.”

“Thank you, may I-”

This time, she cut him off. “Of course, she seemed upset so I’m sure seeing you would help her.”

“Thank you again, Mrs. Cheng!” With a quick nod of his head, he hurried up the stairs to the apartment. Knowing exactly where to go, he turned at the door that lead to the living room and walked up more stairs, stopping at the hatch that led to her room. He chose to knock first, to see if she was inside. When he didn’t get a response quickly, he started to knock again when he finally heard her, and his heart broke for her.

“Papa, I said I don’t want to talk about it! I’ll be fine, just leave me alone!” She answered, voice shaking with emotion.

With a sad smile, he called, “But what kind of cat would I be if I didn’t comfort my Purrincess?” He heard a thump that worried him, so he pushed the hatch to peek inside. 

What he saw, he should have suspected from the sound. She must have fallen off her chaise judging by her crumpled body on the floor, feet sticking up in the air, arms at odd angles and laying on her stomach. Her eyes were puffy and red from the tears she’s spilled and she had a blanket taggled around her body, possibly being what caused her to trip and fall. He pushed the hatch open fully and climbed up the last of the stairs to stand a few feet from where she lay. He bent down, intending to help her up, but she frantically got to her feet, averting her gaze away from him.

“Adrien! W-what are you doing he-here? How did you even know I was here? I mean, I thought you had a photo shoot. Don’t tell me you ditched again! Your dad is gonna be really-” she tried to divert the conversation, but Adrien was having none of it.

“Marinette, Alya sent me the video of what Chloe did, and everything you said.” She looked back at him then just as a fresh tear ran down her cheek. He reached up, brushed it away with his thumb and brought her into his arms. “I’m sorry she said those horrible things. I know your feelings for me are true, and I hope you know mine are too.”

“Of course, Adrien, it’s just-”

“She shouldn’t have said what she said? Yeah, I know, but that’s just how she is. I can’t expect everyone to understand her, but in a way she had a rougher childhood then even I did. I won’t say to forgive her, or even try to like her, but just don’t hold what adults have done to her against her. 

“And as for what you said about me, thank you. With the way things have been lately, I wonder what I’ve done in my life to deserve to have someone as amazing as you by my side. Hopefully, with time, she will learn to be happy with herself, just as we are happy together, finally.”

His hand remained resting on her cheek as she stared up into his eyes, the wateriness in her gaze having steadied as he spoke. He was perfect in so many ways that she wished she could tell him right then and there, but as Chloe’s words echoed in her mind again, her knees gave way. Had Adrien not wrapped his arm around her waist, she would have collapsed to the floor in a heap. He helped her sit back on the chaise behind her and sat next to her as she fought further tears threatening to fall.

“I know Chloe has always been spiteful, but some of the things she said almost made too much sense. What if people really do think that about us? That I am after your father’s business? Or using you and him to get me a leg up in the fashion world? I mean, I could see why people would think that, but I really don’t care about that I just love you for you and-” 

She was babbling and she knew it, but she didn’t care. Chloe’s words hurt more than she would ever admit to anyone, anyone except Adrien. They hid so many secrets from so many people, but never from each other, not anymore. So when Adrien effectively silenced her by pressing his lips firmly onto hers, hand sliding behind her head, she closed her eyes and relaxed into the familiar touch.

She was glad she was sitting down because the love he poured into her from that kiss made her weak as her stomach did little flips inside her. She slid her arms under his and around to his back, grabbing onto the back of his shirt to solidify that he was really here, really kissing her and really putting so much of his love into the action. They had never gone much further than kissing with closed mouths, a few pecks on the cheek now and then, but when he tilted his head slightly to the side and pulled her closer it triggered something in the back of her hazy mind. 

She parted her lips slightly, and Adrien responded in kind as he parted his as well, tongue lightly brushing against her lips. A fire lit within her at that small touch, as her hands released his shirt and pulled him closer, she licked his lips back moments before his tongue met hers. The small whine that escaped her throat lit a similar fire within Adrien as he deepened the kiss, pulling her even closer so there was no space between them anymore. All the time spent as partners as Ladybug and Chat Noir gave them the unique ability to react quickly to the movements of the other, and this knowledge helped them immensely as Mari leaned back against the lounge chair. Adrien, not wanting to separate from her, followed as they explored each other’s mouths, savoring every new thing they learned about each other until the need for oxygen forced them apart, their eyes half-lidded when they finally separated.

Both of their faces were red as they breathed heavily, trying to catch their breath. Marinette seemed to come to herself first as she realized the position they were in, while Adrien was forced to realize it too. He was partly on top of her since she had leaned back against the back of the chair and he just followed. Some of his weight was on the straightened left arm on her right side, while the rest was on his bent arm with his hand still behind her head. Their legs were tangled together in a very intimate way that felt more natural then maybe it should be, but considering their superhero history, it did. Her hands were either against the side of his face or around his lower back, but both fell when he pushed himself up and off her so she could sit up if she wanted to.

“Sorry about that, Marinette, I just-um… oh geez, I’m sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, feeling embarrassed and upset with himself.

She sat up, grabbed his other arm and hugged it close against her body. “It’s okay, I liked it.”

“You did?” he exclaimed, quickly turning to face her again. She giggled and nodded, cheeks still an adorable red. “W-Well, if you liked it then-um- m-maybe we could do it again?” He _really_ wanted to kiss her like that again.

But she just giggled again, saying, “I’d love to but we have school, you dumb cat.” A sweet smile settled on her face as she flicked his nose, causing him to scrunch it up. She stood and started walking to the hatch that led down to the rest of the house when she looked back at him. “You sure know how to make me feel better. Thank you, Adrien.”

With a flourish that was more Chat than Adrien, he bowed and said, “I am at your service, Princess.” This caused more giggles to escape her lips until a groan that escaped Plagg’s lips made them aware that they weren’t as alone as they thought they were.

“You are already late aren’t you?” the Kwami grumbled.

“He’s right, you both have to get back quickly!” Tikki zoomed to her charge’s face, having just phased through her bag.

Marinette pulled out her phone and shrieked. “WAAAH! They’re right! We should have been back twenty minutes ago!”

“Best twenty minutes of my life,” Adrien practically purred. Plagg groaned again, loudly, as the teens quickly hurried down the stairs and left through the side door to take off back toward the school.

The rest of the day dragged on for Adrien as his mind kept going back to the kiss he and Marinette had shared just before going back to school. It was wonderful and he truly hoped they would explore that type of kissing more in the near future. Purrhaps it was time for Chat to make a late-night visit to his Princess again, it had been a few days since the last time.

The kiss was on Marinette’s mind too and every time she remembered it, her face felt warm all over again. They had never kissed themselves breathless before and, she was learning, the feeling was addictive. She had never felt closer to Adrien than in those few moments, and her heart felt full of the love he’d shown her. He was so gentle during the kiss, but firm too. Insistent, but letting her lead so she didn’t feel forced. Then when she had leaned back, more for support to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, he leaned forward and put some of his weight on her, making her feel comforted and safe and-

The bell rang and the other students began packing their bags to leave. Marinette’s face lit up as she immediately turned to Adrien, who looked at her from his seat next to her and smiled. She felt faint.

“Adrikins! You won’t believe what Marinette said to me!” Chloe stormed over to the still seated model, who just looked at her, emotionless.

“I know exactly what Marinette said, just like I know exactly what you said to her,” he stated, everyone within earshot stayed where they were, excited to see where this conversation was going.

“I-but-how-” Chloe stammered, looking around and seeing Alya wave her phone from behind her friend. “You…”

“You, Chloe, need to stop picking on my girlfriend. I love her very much, and our relationship has nothing to do with my father or his business. It has everything to do with us and our feelings, and if you can’t respect that, then I’m sorry Chloe I won’t be able to be your friend anymore.”

The room fell into such a silence that Marinette could swear Adrien and Alya, the two closest to her, could hear her heart pounding in her chest. Then, as if to solidify his words, Adrien turned to Marinette from their shared seat and leaned forward, capturing her lips in a gentle but loving kiss. Gasps echoed around the room as well as the click of Alya’s camera, but Marinette didn’t hear or see any of it. She was entirely focused on Adrien’s lips moving against hers. She fought the quiet noise she wanted to let out, still somewhat aware they were not alone, but Adrien’s hand brushing Mari’s cheek forced out the tiny sound for his ears alone. 

When he pulled back, a smile on his face, she smiled back as she placed her hand over his. The small movement of his shoulders indicated that he was aware of the fact that she had made a noise, and he seemed proud to have pulled the sound from her. Her other hand clenched in her lap, out of most people’s view, but no one was watching her anymore. All eyes were on Chloe.

She was crying, with anger or frustration Marinette couldn’t be sure, but the tears were there. No one said a word as Chloe ran from the room, Sabrina rushing after her loudly sobbing friend. The students in the classroom cheered, but suddenly Marinette didn’t feel so happy. She knew Chloe wouldn’t like that her and Adrien were together, but it was never her wish to truly hurt the girl. If what Adrien said was true, then it was wrong for her to feel happy about Chloe’s tears.

She grabbed Adrien’s hand and together they walked out of the classroom, leaving the other students to cheer and finish packing up for the day. She walked, still dragging Adrien, to where she thought Chloe might be, the girls bathroom. Adrien, seeing their destination, pulled them to a stop a few feet from the door.

“Mari, what’s going on? I can’t go in there.”

“I don’t want our relationship to cause anyone pain, Adrien. If what you said about her is true,” she waited for him to confirm with a nod before she continued, “Then I have to do something. She could be akumatized by Hawk Moth if she is so sad. We have to keep an eye on her and try to make her feel better.”

“And that’s just one of the many reasons I love you. You even care about your enemy, Marinette.” He smiled sweetly at her, loving her more and more every day.

“She’s not the enemy. Is she a hurtful person? Yes. Has she caused a lot of people to be akumatized? Absolutely. Does she deserve to be sad and upset? No, I’m not that kind of person.” Marinette started to walk again, but Adrien stopped.

“I agree with you, I don’t want my only friend for years to be upset, but that is the girls room. I can’t go in there.”

“Then wait out here and I’ll talk to her. Well, I’ll try.” With a nod from him, she released his hand and walked into the bathroom. Sabrina was standing outside a bathroom stall, trying to talk to her friend from inside the bathroom.

“Chloe, it’s okay. You don’t need Adrien. Maybe you can try to date Prince Ali again, or someone else. Oh, I bet your father would buy you a new phone case if you wanted! Or maybe, I can do all your homework for the next week? Month?”

The only response Sabrina got was the sobs from the other side of the door. Marinette walked up to the stall and once she was spotted, Sabrina glared at her and refused to speak to her. Marinette put her hands on the door to the stall, hearing the sadness from the girl on the other side.

“Chloe?”

Silence.

“I know you’re in there, Chloe.”

“Leave me alone,” Chloe’s voice cracked when she responded, the sound tugging Marinette’s heart despite herself.

“I just want you to know that, even though we haven’t seen eye to eye on, well, anything it doesn’t mean I want Adrien to stop being your friend. In fact, I kinda wanted to thank you.”

This caused Chloe to unlock and open the stall door a little, peeking around the door, run mascara creating black streaks down her face.

“T-thank me?” The question was broken by a hiccup.

“Yes. For years you were there for him when no one else was. You were the only friend he had after his mother passed, and he was yours for a long time too. If it wasn’t for you, I doubt he would be the person he is today. So, thank you, Chloe, for being his friend all this time.” Marinette spoke sincerely, meaning every word of it. Despite what Chloe had grown up with, she was there for him when he had no one else, so she was thankful to her.

The door swung open fully then, and Marinette really saw Chloe for the first time. She looked too thin under all the makeup and concealer the tears had all but washed away. Her hair was almost perfect, save for a few strands out of place. In the girl’s tear-soaked eyes, she saw years of hurt so similar to Adrien’s it was uncanny. Her father spoiling her to buy her affections, her mother being gone since she was very young. Constantly being shoved onto a nanny or butler instead of really being parented and rarely truly bring loved. It was like under all the makeup, Chloe was stripped of her mask and made bare for all to see. With a gentle smile, Marinette held out her hand to Chloe, who just stared at it for a long time.

“What are you doing?” Chloe said, a ghost of her usual snarky response in her voice.

“Extending the olive branch,” Marinette said simply. At that moment, she felt every bit the superhero Paris made her out to be as, slowly, Chloe reached out and took the extended hand.

Adrien was pacing nearby, not able to hear everything that was going on but worried when there wasn’t any more shrieking until the door swung open. He looked, a smile spreading on his face seconds before his jaw dropped. Chloe’s face was horrible with all her running makeup, but that wasn’t the most unbelievable part. Chloe was holding hands with Marinette. Was he dreaming?

“Well, don’t just stand there gawking. Isn’t your ride here?” Chloe told Adrien, other hand on her hip. With a final flick of her hair, she released Marinette’s hand and strolled from the school as Sabrina chased after with a tissue for Chloe’s face.

“You are _miraculous_ , Mari,” was all Adrien could say before capturing her in his arms and kissing her cheek.

“Well, I learned from the best,” she responded, placing a hand to her side where Tikki hid in her bag. A quiet giggle from the Kwami had them both smiling.

“I hope my amazing, miraculous girlfriend won’t mind a little visit tonight from her favorite cat,” he whispered, holding her face in his hands.

“Of course not, I’m an animal lover,” she said simply. Then, another meaning of that phrase popped into her head, and she blushed hotly. “I mean, I love animals. I mean not all animals, just cats. I mean-”

He kissed her lips quickly to stop her babbling. “I know what you meant. Cats are very possessive after all, I wouldn’t let anyone else have you. Purrhaps we can continue where we left off a little while earlier, hmm?”

“I do-don’t see wh-why not,” she stammered nervously, suddenly feeling overheated. He released her enough to drape an arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the school together, just as they should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! To continue my thoughts from the beginning of this chapter, I don't feel comfortable with 13/14 yr olds groping each other in a T rated fic, and I plan on writing a lot of teasing touches in coming chapters, so look forward to that. I'm sure it's a thing, but considering my age and the fact I have a daughter around their age, it's difficult for me. I'm not sure right now how far I will take their older relationship but know I have written smut before and got good reviews, so I hope that is a good thing for you all to think about should I go that far. See you in the next one!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette have been dating a few months now, and Adrien is so excited to be wearing Mari's hat today at the fashion show his father set up for him. He will finally get to show off his amazing and talented his girlfriend is. At least it would go that way if he wasn't turned into a glittering, golden statue!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SOOO sorry this chapter took so long to come out, I've been busy with life and planning for my kid's Christmas that writing has taken a bit of a backseat. My mental health is not where it should be either, which is so hard to admit, but I am working to try and get more enjoyment for myself so I can feel better. I felt so bad about taking this long to get out such a short chapter, but I promise I'll try to be better and more consistent come the new year. Between now and Jan. 2nd, I might be able to get another chapter or two out, but don't hold me to that. Enjoy!

The incident with Chloe and Marinette happened three months ago, and Adrien wasn’t sure how she did it, but it seemed Chloe had gotten over her jealousy enough to stop trying to tear them apart. Sure, Chloe still teased them about their “overly public displays of affection” often, but at least she wasn’t trying to get between them anymore. His father, on the other hand, well Adrien wished he could take the hint. Marinette was His Lady, and nothing was going to separate them. He would be with her as long as she wanted him there.

Which didn’t seem to be a problem for her, either. She loved spending so much time with Adrien, even his frequent late-night visits. He didn’t always stay over, in fact, she could count the number of times on her hands (which she did often because those were special to her) but the visits themselves happened a couple of times a week. Sometimes it was simply to end out patrols, they would talk on her balcony for a couple of hours before he headed home. Other times it was well after he should be home asleep that he visited. Those were harder on both of them because it was usually after his father had said or done something mean and he wanted to vent. She would always be there for him, she’d promised many times over to him, and she made sure he understood after each of those visits.

Last night was one of those easier nights for Marinette, so she got to bed early after kissing her boyfriend goodbye on her balcony. She was just watching him vault over the adjacent row of buildings when her phone rang below her. She scrambled down her hatch to grab her phone from where it rested on charging port Adrien had gifted her recently. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was Alya calling. After a quick swipe, she answered the call.

“Hi Alya, what’s up?”

“Girl, I can’t thank you and Adrien enough for not only talking his father into letting Nino DJ the fashion show tomorrow, but allowing me to film it for my blog! It’s so amazing that we all get to be there together!”

“Yeah, it is. Adrien said it wasn’t easy, but that his father caved and let the whole class come as thanks for taking such good care of him at school. Actually, thinking about tomorrow makes me really nervous. What if Adrien doesn’t like the changes to the hat? What is Gabriel hates it when he sees it. Wait, what if he doesn’t see it because he doesn’t show up. It would hurt Adrien so bad if his father doesn't come to the fashion show he set up for him. I mean it’s already rough that his father never comes to his photo shoots but the fashion show would be even worse and-”

“Woah girl, slow down!” Alya teased her babbling friend, causing both girls to giggle. “We all know how… absent Adrien’s dad is, that’s nothing new. We just have to be there to support him whether his father shows up or not. And, hopefully, they can pry you two apart in Adrien’s trailer to actually walk down the catwalk.”

Marinette blushed hotly, glad the phone was not on video chat. She could hear the humor in her friend's tone and took up an indignant one in return. “Oh come on, we aren’t that bad and you know it! Not like you and Nino spending all that time in the animal cage at the zoo last month.”

“Hey, that was because Ladybug locked us in there, we didn’t have a choice,” Alya defended.

“Uh-huh, sure. Blame the Hero of Paris for you and Nino getting a closer look at each other’s lips, hmm?”

“You promised you wouldn’t say anything!” Alya shouted. Marinette could hear what sounded like muffled footsteps and a door shutting.

“And I haven’t told anyone, but come on. You and Nino have been close for a while now, it was only a matter of time before you two started dating. Maybe Ladybug saw it too and she just wanted to give you guys a little push.” Marinette fought the nervous giggle that was in the back of her throat. 

“Maybe. Well, either way, I was just calling to thank you on behalf of us both. Hey, you remembered to fix Adrien’s hat, right?” Alya asked.

“Yep, I got the faux feather this afternoon and I’m gonna switch it out tomorrow before the show. I’ve got plenty of time,” she assured her friend.

“Okay, but you tend to leave things to the last minute and then freak out about finishing. I’m glad you seem to be getting better at that lately. I really think Adrien is having a good effect on you. See you tomorrow!”

“You too!” Marinette hung up and looked sideways to where Tikki floated above the little bed next to her owner’s against the wall. “Guess Ladybug strikes again in the love department.”

“I’m just glad Ladybug’s love life is settling down too. I’ve known a lot of Ladybugs, and not all of them ended up with their Chat Noirs, but almost all of them were meant to have their destinies intertwined,” Tikki clarified as she settled down. This had Marinette pausing in her actions of crawling into her bed.

“Really? Every Ladybug and Chat Noir?” It was almost unbelievable.

“Yep. They either stay friends even after giving their miraculous back, or get married, or even deny their feelings until they each pass on. Each relationship is different, but each one is meant to meet at some point and we just help with that. I will admit, you two are the strangest of the bunch. Youngest to discover each other’s identities, not the youngest to actually start dating, but pretty close. I am excited to see where this goes from here!” Tikki’s grin made Marinette smile too.

“Well, I hope we don’t disappoint,” she said to her Kwami as she turned out the light.

“Not possible. But what is possible is you freaking out as Alya said in the morning.”

“Nope, not gonna happen. I have loads of time to fix the hat before the show. It’s in the afternoon on a Saturday. What could go wrong?” Marinette closed her eyes, intending to drift into a calm, dreamless sleep. But dreams about Adrien and their life together in the future were not what she dreamed about, but instead something much darker. Adrien leaving her for someone his father made him choose. Her still having to work with Chat Noir while still loving the man beneath the mask. Adrien still having an allergic reaction to even the faux feather in the hat tomorrow and being unable to wear it. These thoughts and more had her spiraling down a rabbit hole of nightmares before finally making her wake up with a start to her phone’s alarm ringing loudly next to her.

Sitting up, she turned off the alarm, rubbed her eyes and started to crawl down the ladder of her bed, only to trip on the last rung and land flat on her face. With a groan, she pushed against the floor and looked at the floating god nearby, concern etched into the red and black spotted face.

“Marinette, are you alright?” Tikki asked.

“Yeah, I think I’m okay. Just didn’t sleep well.”

“Did you want to talk about it?” seeing Marinette’s head shaking side to side, Tikki continued, “Well, I guess just try to put it behind you and focus on the afternoon! You’ll get to see your boyfriend modeling your designs!”

“You’re right. Bad dreams or no, Adrien still needs his hat! Come on, Tikki!” Standing up triumphantly, she strode to her closet to get dressed.

************************************

While Marinette was having a rough morning, Adrien’s was no better. He had waited and waited for his father to join him for breakfast but, once again, he didn’t show up. With a heavy sigh, he only half listened to Natalie go over his morning schedule as he ate the usual, bland meal. The only bright spot of the day was the afternoon, where he was going to walk down the runway with his girlfriend’s hat on his head. He was told by Natalie that she had to make last minute adjustments to it, due to his allergies, so she would be bringing the hat by for him before the show. 

His excitement only grew when it was nearing time to leave for the show. He left his bedroom and started down the stairs of the foyer only to have his father standing just inside the doorway to his atelier. Straight as a board he stood, speaking with Natalie about some project he was working on causing him to be unable to leave the house that day. Adrien reached the bottom step and dropped his bag, loudly, on the floor next to him and walked to his father, startling both adults.

“You’re not coming to the show, dad?” Adrien said, his tone accusatory.

“No, I’m sorry. Natalie has everything well in hand. I have some things here I need to… oversee here. There will be other shows you will be in, I’m sure you understand,” Gabriel stated.

“Yeah, totally. I understand perfectly.” Adrien said, fighting to keep the welling emotion inside so as not to snap at his absentee father.

“I don’t like that tone of voice, Adrien,” his father snapped.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Agreste, if my tone is offensive to you. I will try to be more impassive for you from now on. Natalie, I’ll see you in the car,” Adrien replied as he snatched his bag off the floor and strode toward the door.

“If you keep acting like this I’ll forbid you from seeing that Marinette girl, so you better shape up Adrien!” This caused the young man to stop dead in his tracks. “That’s what I thought. I humored you dating her because I thought she was talented and a hard worker. Seems, while that may be true, she is also causing a change in you I do not like. Perhaps if I keep you busy enough she will eventually stop trying to fawn over you like a fangirl, or whatever they are called nowadays.” 

He tried to keep calm. He knew saying anything back would only add fuel to the fire. But he was bad-mouthing his girlfriend, his bugaboo. And he, being the kind-hearted guy he was, couldn’t stand for it, not even from his own father. So, he turned around. Slowly and carefully to look his father in the eye. Counted 3 steps he took towards his father to look at him, straight into his eyes even if his head tilted up a bit.

“You can do whatever you want, father, but she will not be scared away that easily. Nothing you say or do, will tear us apart and the sooner you see that, the better. You hardly know her and you are already trying to tear us apart because you think she is changing me? No, Father, she’s not changing me. Mom’s death changed me, all these responsibilities on me has changed me, more adult than anyone my age should be and that is your fault. You always said you hated when mom went out on trips, and you didn’t want her to go on her last one, so she changed her flight to accommodate you. Maybe it’s not your fault she’s gone, but it is your fault that I am now forced into this tight routine you have for me that I can barely get any time to myself.

“I’m not going to vanish like mom did. I’m not doing stupid things or trying to get into trouble just to spite you, like other teens my age might be doing. I could be, I even have a right to make mistakes and stuff, but I’m not. I just want time with my girlfriend and my other friends without having to be forced to go to functions with you as your showpiece. You don’t trust me, fine, but _don’t_ talk bad about _my girlfriend_ without even _knowing_ her first! See you in the car, Natalie.”

He turned on his heel and left the Agreste mansion, leaving a stunned pair of caretakers in his wake, mouths agape. Neither knew what to say for several long moments before an alarm on Natalie’s watch chimed, indicating that it was time to leave or else they would be late. She turned to Gabriel, unsure what to say, but he saved her from speaking by doing so himself.

“Remind me after all this is over to speak to Marinette… privately. Perhaps once his mother returns his tune will change then.”

“O-of course, Mr. Agreste. Whatever you say, sir.” Natalie gave a curt nod of her head before rushing out of the room to join the people waiting for her in the car. While Gabriel watched the car drive away and out of the gate toward its destination, he knew everything about today was going according to plan.

“Just one more, my darling. After this final villain, I’ll get the miraculous of the cat and ladybug and bring you back. Our son will be happy again, I’ll be happy again, and things can return to how they used to be.” He’d walked from the window to stand before his wife’s picture hanging on the wall, reaching up to just barely brush her cheek in the painting. With a soft sigh, he moved his hands to push the hidden buttons that opened the secret hatch to his lair, a purple moth Kwami floating nearby.

*****************************

“No, no, no, no, no! This can’t be happening, Tikki! Adrien is-IS!” she was freaking out, she knew that, but she couldn’t help it. Not only was Adrien’s runway show ruined by an attacking Akuma, but he was _turned into a glitter statue!_ How was she going to defeat the Akuma without Chat Noir? Was her boyfriend going to be okay? He’d seemed upset in his trailer, but told her not to worry about it, but how can she not worry about it? His jerk of a father must have said something again, like normal. He set this stupid thing up for him, another show parading his model son around, and didn’t even bother to show up?! She had never hated anyone more in her life, aside from Hawk Moth himself!

“Calm down, Marinette. You just need to go and get another miraculous from Master Fu. Adrien will be fine, your magic will set everything right again once this is over and he’s come back like nothing happened,” she said, touching her chosen’s hand in an attempt to comfort the teen.

“Y-you’re right. Everything always works out, right? It has to. Tikki, transform me!” Once transformed, she made her way quickly to Master Fu’s house, only to learn that things were not as they should be.

“Hey Mari, what’s up?” Plagg said from his plate of camembert.

“Plagg, what are you doing here? Aren’t you with Adrien?” Marinette said without thinking, before clapping her hands over her mouth.

“Adrien? How do you… you know who each other are?!” Master Fu exclaimed, shocked. The couple hadn’t gotten around to telling the Guardian that not only did they know about their secret identities, but that they were dating. So, his shocked expression was well-warranted.

“Um, yes? It’s all my fault, he saw me transform and then he revealed his to me a little while later after he thought I hated him and it’s all too confusing right now because Adrien’s a glitter statue and we have to get the Akuma before Adrien fades away!” Marinette babbled out quickly.

“We will have to discuss this later after the Akuma is taken care of and once Adrien is back to normal. I am disappointed in you both.” He gave her a stern look before covering his mouth to mumble, “Though I am pleased my ship sailed.”

“What was that?” Marinette said, straining to hear the man’s words.

“Nothing. Since Chat Noir is unable to assist you, pick an ally to aid you in this fight. Make sure it’s someone you can trust and be sure to retrieve the miraculous once you are finished and return it here, to me,” Fu said carefully. Setting the box on the futon mat on the floor, he slid the lid open easily as several slots and drawers opened to reveal multiple miraculous and their many options. 

“Um, I could help her out too y’know,” Plagg offered as he finished his last piece of cheese.

“No, you are too dangerous on your own. The destruction you bring has caused many civilizations and other catastrophes to occur. No, absolutely not.” Fu pointed his finger at the floating cat, eyes squinted as he glared at the mini god.

“You mean Atlantis? That was because I ate too much!” At Fu’s continued glare, he continued. “The Leaning Tower of Pisa? I told you before, I didn’t see it!” The old man put his hands on his hips, leveling his gaze at the Kwami.

“Need I remind you about the dinosaurs?” Master Fu cocked one eyebrow at the cat, who balked in response.

“Y-yeah, that was my fault. But, in my defense, I was still young!” Marinette, watching the two converse, glanced at Tikki who just shrugged. She knew how strong the Kwami were on their own, but actually hearing about the things Plagg had done was something entirely different.

“See? You are too much without an owner. Marinette, pick a miraculous and give it to someone you trust. Plagg will remain here, with me until he can return to Adrien.”

“Yes Master.” As she scanned the miraculous, the choices seemed overwhelming for a moment. She really wanted to work with Chat, but since he was out of action, she decided to pick a new partner. “I’ve seen the way Style Queen moves, she’s hard to pin down. I need someone who can stop her, or at least slow her down!” As she finished speaking, she picked up the hair comb of the bee Kwami.

“I’d say that is a good choice. Now, transform and find your chosen person. Defeat this Akuma quickly, lest Paris fall to ruin.” Master Fu closed the box and moved to return it to its hidden location within his record player.

“I will Master. I will save Paris and Adrien, I promise!” With that promise hanging in the air, she transformed once again and prepared to search for the girl who she decided to give the Miraculous to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger, I couldn't help it. Well, I could, but I didn't want to. I love them and they are amazing! I haven't decided who the "girl" is right now, honestly, but I have an idea and I think I'm gonna run with it. See you in another week or two!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second half to my version of Style Queen. The bee miraculous is given to the chosen heroine, Style Queen is defeated, and everything is back to normal, right? RIGHT?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, I have no words as to why this chapter took so long. Maybe I lost some inspiration, maybe motivation, I wish I could explain. I still love this franchise and this story and will continue it. I hope to get at least one more chapter out before the holidays, though at the rate I'm going, that may not happen. I hope you all are still enjoying this and I hope this chapter is just as good as the others.
> 
> Also, read the ending notes as I will answer a lot of questions you may have there.

Ladybug was soaring across the skies, swinging from rooftop to rooftop, over streets and bridges as she headed for where she thought she could find the girl she sought. She landed just outside the building where they were having the fashion show in search of her, but she wasn’t there. With a grunt, she headed for the Eiffel Tower, where she had seen a shimmer of glitter heading. Once there, she saw Style Queen ordering her new assistant to keep an eye out for Ladybug as the Akuma placed a special barrier around the heroine’s boyfriend. Trying not to let the situation get her overly emotional, she landed between some beams and beckoned Chloe Bourgeois over with a little wave.

“Ladybug!”

“Shh! Quiet, before the Akuma hears you!” Ladybug hushed the girl. _Was this really the best idea?_

Pitching her voice low with a glance above her, she nodded. “Sorry about all this, my mom has gotten a little carried away with everything lately! She’s super stressed from being away from her office in New York and Gabriel not putting her in the front row of Adrien’s show, and all these incompetent people!”

Stifling a groan, Ladybug said, “Chloe, despite what your mother has become, you still care for her. Don’t you?”

“Of course! That’s why I convinced her to bring me with her! After she got so angry, how could I leave her?” Chloe seemed to be genuinely upset. Ladybug knew Audrey enough to know she didn't deserve her daughter’s adoration.

“Of course,” the heroine said, however. “As a sign of your love for your mother, I would like to present you with the miraculous of the bee. It will grant you the power to immobilize your opponent. Once the Akuma is released, you will return the miraculous to me. Do you accept?”

Chloe looked down at the small box, taking it gently in her hands. She opened the box carefully and immediately a blinding golden light blazed from the box to circle around the girl before settling in front of her again. The light shifted, forming the little body of the bee Kwami, who bowed before the blonde.

“Greetings, my Queen. I am Pollen, Kwami of the bee miraculous. How may I serve today?” Pollen said. Chloe’s eyes sparkled as she ignored everything but the beautiful creature in front of her.

“Chloe!” Ladybug hissed, quickly drawing her attention back to the matter at hand. “I need your answer. Now!”

“Of course! Whatever you say, Ladybug!” Chloe shouted, forgetting to keep her voice down.

“Ladybug? Charlie- I mean Chloe! I told you to warn me if you saw the bug, not befriend her!” Style Queen snarked as she materialized behind her. Chloe turned her head slowly, hiding the box and Pollen behind her. Ladybug wasn’t fast enough because she yelled: “You’re fired!” Aiming her glittering rod at her own daughter, she froze the girl instantly into another glitter statue. 

“No!” Ladybug shouted, looking at Chloe who had now become a glittering golden figure. She noticed several things quickly. Chloe would be unable to help her, transformation impossible being as she was now. The newly frozen teen didn’t hold the box in her hand anymore, and it wasn’t anywhere Ladybug could immediately see. Chloe must have thrown it away somewhere, and she would need to find it later. Second over, she was forced to return her attention to the Akuma. “You’ll pay for that, Style Queen!”

“I won’t pay for anything, at least not more than I say something is worth!” She sneered at the heroine, firing another blast at Ladybug. Barely evading the multiple blasts from the Akuma, Ladybug weaved her way in between the beams of Paris’s landmark tower, trying to figure out anything she could do to fix this situation. Upon finding a small hiding spot, she managed to take a breath and…

“Lucky Charm!” she cried out as her magic transformed into a tube of glue.

“Ready to be glued to the wall, Ladybug?” Style Queen called out, firing another blast at her hiding place, causing the heroine to vault out of the way. Quickly searching around she saw her target and snatched the waving flag from its holder, quickly squirting the glue all along the heavy fabric. She hoped this would work the way her superhero senses told her it would. They hadn’t failed her before, so she had to trust them.

“Why don’t we find out, Style Queen!” She barked out, pointing the unwieldy flag at her foe. With a smirk, the Akuma went on the attack as Ladybug did her best to defend herself, waiting for the right time to strike. Which came sooner than expected as Style Queen dematerialized before her, trying to get behind the heroine. Ladybug struck out with the flag, swinging wide and smiling.

“You think a little glue was going to-argh!” Style Queen flinched, looking down at her missing midriff. “That’s not going to stop me! Time to squash you like the bug you are!” 

The fight seemed to drag on until Ladybug was thrown against the barrier surrounding Adrien’s too-still form. She’d cracked her head against the shield, the barrier was much harder than it at first appeared, causing stars to spring up in her vision. Dazed, she stared up at Style Queen as the Akuma aimed at Ladybug. She thought she saw a small smear of black zoom around her, but it must have been her blurry vision. Right?

“Any last words before I take your miraculous and turn you into a beautiful glitter statue?” Style Queen said, confidently.

“Just one! Cataclysm!” Plagg zoomed in, tapping the floor with his tiny arm as the explosion rocked the ground beneath them. A cloud of destruction began to spread around the Eiffel Tower as the ground so far below them began to groan. Twisting metal beams and cracking concrete was almost deafening to the fighting superpowered beings, but Ladybug was still aware of the crackling of the barrier she was leaning against. “Y-you’d better hurry and fix everything, Sugarcube.” Plagg managed, laying weakened on the rolling metal floor.

Ignoring the name Plagg had called her and the slight warmth she felt from somewhere deep within her. Ladybug stood and kicked the barrier, snatched the rose from her boyfriend’s mouth, and broke the rose easily over her knee and freeing the dark butterfly.

“Guess all those things Master Fu said were true after all. Time to de-evilize!” Swinging her yo-yo out, capturing the Akuma and quickly releasing it again. “Bye bye again, little butterfly.” Retrieving the glue was easy, standing up as the floor beneath her creaked and groaned was not, so she quickly cast her final bit of magic with, “Miraculous Ladybug!” As the magic spread out, fixing all the damage the tiny Kwami had just unleashed, the people included, Ladybug felt completely drained. She eyed Plagg carefully, realizing that she had never felt this weakened before after using Miraculous Ladybug. “Let’s hope that you never have to do that again.”

“You and me both. Time to go. Tell my master I’ll catch up with him later!” He whispered the last close to her face so only the pair heard as he floated away. Ladybug snickered as she watched the little cat go before returning to Audrey, Chloe, and Adrien.

“Everyone alright?” She asked as she usually did.

“What is going on? You’re all fired!” Audrey said as her daughter rushed to her mom’s side.

“It’s going to be okay mom, but we should get out of here. This place is no place for the Style Queen to watch Mr. Agreste’s fashion show from!” Chloe tried to distract her mom from Ladybug and Adrien, gently leading her down the stairs. Ladybug had her eyes glued to Adrien, and his eyes on His Lady, so neither saw Chloe’s quick movement of her hand, darting out before catching up to her mother.

“I’m so sorry, Ladybug.” Adrien began, but a finger over his lips silenced him.

“It’s okay, Adrien. You have nothing to apologize for. Chat Noir will just have to help me next time.” Ladybug smiled sweetly at the young model, who simply nodded. Good at hiding her pain and exhaustion by now, her boyfriend was completely unaware that her head was still swimming a bit from that hard knock or that she was barely still on her feet. “I think you have a fashion show to get to, Mr. Agreste. I’ll take you back.”

Adrien simply nodded, utterly enjoying the times when he was carried away by Ladybug. He enjoyed it almost as much as having the freedom to sprint over rooftops himself. As the pair vaulted away, a young woman dropped her hands to her sides, unable to believe what she just witnessed. Ladybug was flirting with her best friend’s boyfriend, and did she just imply that Adrien was…

“Adrien is Chat Noir!” Alya said, with hands shaking so badly she was barely able to grasp her phone which had recorded the entire exchange. “I have to tell Marinette that he’s cheating on her! With my idol! This is going to crush her!” Quickly packing her phone away, she began making her way back down the Eiffel Tower.

Back at the show, Ladybug said goodbye to Adrien as he made his way back into the building and she ducked around a statue to detransform. Once she was Marinette again, she slid down the side of the stone, holding her head. Tikki’s worried face was in front of her quickly.

“You hit your head hard, you should rest here a bit.”

“I have to get back to the show, everyone will be wondering where I am, including Adrien. I’ll be fine, Tikki, I promise. I just need a minute,” she tried to assure her friend, even as she didn’t completely believe the words herself.

“You can’t go back in there right now, you have to get the miraculous back to Master Fu.”

“The ladybugs didn’t-” Tikki shook her head, answering her unasked question. “You’re right, we have to go back there right no-”

“There you are, sweety! Why are you still hiding here?” Her father asked, reaching out to help his daughter up.

“Um, just resting a bit. I was turned into a glitter statue and it was so scary!” She forcibly shook herself, her mother hugging her obviously upset daughter.

“I’m so glad you are safe! Ladybug saved the day again, but we have to go back inside now. Are you gonna be okay?”

“Of course, momma, I’ll be okay.” Marinette walked together with her parents back into the show. She promised herself she would go back once the show was over to find the miraculous. She couldn’t lose it, she would have to find it fast.

Unknown to the girl, the miraculous had been found or rather recovered. Chloe was standing at the base of the tower as her mother and she waited for the taxi Audrey had just called. Turning her back to her mother, she reached into her pocket to produce the small box, peeking inside. The comb was still there. Snapping it shut quickly, a devilish smile crossing her face quickly before her mother called for her again. The taxi had arrived, she had to leave. She would enjoy the plan she had started to form in her head, her last-ditch effort to get Adrien to herself, and this one was nearly foolproof.

*********************

“You know, I’m really kind of shocked she managed to get you back here so fast, she really cracked her head hard when I arrived,” Plagg said in between chewing his wedges of cheese.

“Who? Ladybug?” Adrien asked. Once he got back, he was escorted to his trailer as everything was being set up again. Natalie mentioned they may have to reschedule the show to next weekend if they were unable to fix everything in time.

“Yep! That style faux pas smacked Mari good. She hit that barrier surrounding you when you were hit by the Akuma. That thing was so solid, my cataclysm only cracked it a bit.” Plagg spoke like this was only a curious thing, not like his girlfriend could be in real danger right now.

“But we can’t get hurt when transformed, right? I’ve never gotten more than a headache after hitting my head.” Adrien tried to dismiss the butterflies forming in his chest as he thought about Marinette. What if she was passed out somewhere right now and needed help?

“Well, your suits are indestructible, so you can’t physically be harmed, like wounded. Never said anything about internal injuries you can’t see. Broken skin or bones? Not gonna happen. Concussion? Totally possible. You probably never had one because of all your fencing training improving your reflexes. That combined with the miraculous given cat abilities, you are a bit more flexible and your reactions are even more enhanced.” Plagg finished the entire wheel and finally looked up at his chosen, seeing just how badly his words had affected the boy.

“She could be in danger, right now, and I’m stuck here and unable to help her!” Adrien said, standing in front of the mirror. Anger and helplessness filled him as he punched the shelf attached to the wall before him. Fighting his overflowing emotions within him, he heard a knock at the door.

“Adrien?” It was Natalie.

“I’m fine. Are things ready to go?” His voice only shook a tiny bit and he hoped she wouldn’t come to check on him.

“It seems too much was damaged in the panic. It’ll be rescheduled for next weekend,” she affirmed.

“Thank you for telling me. I have to see Marinette, can you ask her to come here please?” _Please say you will, Natalie,_ Adrien silently begged.

After a long pause, he heard, “I’ll see what I can do.” With a sigh, he moved to one of the chairs in the trailer. After what seemed like hours, there was a knock on the door. 

“Adrien? Can I-?” She started before the door flung open and arms clad in black wrapped around her.

“Marinette, yes. Please come in,” he said as he quickly released her, helped her inside and shut the door behind her.

“Woah, you okay? What’s wrong? Are they canceling the rest of the show? I heard they were asking people to leave, I’m so sorry Adrien. First, your father didn’t show up and then you were turned into glitter and unable to help me and then they cancel the show and everything went wrong. I’m so sorry!” Marinette babbled quickly, a tear threatening to fall down her cheek.

Adrien let her finish because this was her. He worried for nothing. “I’m fine. They aren’t canceling the show, just changing the date so they can fix everything. Everything is going to be fine, but I was worried about you. Plagg said he helped you out today since I couldn’t.”

“Oh yeah, that. He did a really great job, but I’ll be glad to have Chat Noir fighting beside me again. That was the hardest fight I’ve had yet!” Marinette said, absently rubbing her head.

“He also said you hit your head pretty hard, you okay?” Adrien went to reach for the spot she was rubbing, but she quickly snatched her hand away from the obvious sore spot.

“Yep! All good here! Hehe he..he,” she giggled shyly and smiled broadly.

“I know that laugh, you’re not fine. Marinette, you need to be careful. Want me to go with you to the doctor or something? We’ll make something up, but I want you to get checked out,” Adrien said, concern in his voice.

“I’m fine, Adrien. Really. I just have a bit of a headache, that’s all,” Marinette assured him.

“I’m with Adrien on this one, Marinette. I think you should go,” Tikki chimed in, zooming to float next to the model still in his black suit.

“I told you guys, I’m fi-” She trailed off as the world swam around her, making her stumble a moment. Adrien was fast, catching her elbow before she could fall backward.

“Natalie! Call an ambulance! Marinette is hurt!” Adrien shouted as he led her carefully to a chair. Once she was seated, he got her a bottle of water and handed it to her.

“I-it’s nothing Adrien, really. I’m just a little dizzy.” She tried to calm him, but he was searching her head for any sign of injury. He eventually found the large, tender bump on the back of her head by poking it by accident, causing her to flinch.

“That’s not ‘nothing’ Mari. That looks nasty. The paramedics will be here soon, just rest here and I’ll go have your parents brought here.” Without waiting for her response, he moved to the trailer door and swung it open to talk to Natalie outside.

“I thought I couldn’t get hurt when transformed, Tikki?” Marinette asked the little red, blurry Kwami floating nearby.

“Most external injuries you’re immune to. Your skin can’t be broken where the suit covered you, but your head is easily damaged by really hard hits. We can’t protect you completely, I’m so sorry Marinette. This is all my fault! I’m not strong enough,” Tikki said, agonized by the fact that her chosen had been hurt because of her.

“It’s not your fault, Tikki. I should be more careful, and I will from now on. I promise. You’re amazing and I love you.” Marinette scooped up the tiny god, holding her close before she was forced to hide as Marinette’s parents walked into the now cramped trailer. 

They both fretted over her as they waited for the paramedics. They even allowed Adrien to stay with her up until the medics arrived and they were all shooed out of the trailer. One stayed with her parents and Adrien as they asked for how she hurt herself. Her parents had no idea, so they looked to Adrien who spoke without missing a beat.

“She told me that when she was hit by the Akuma, she was frozen weird. When she was transformed back, she hit her head on the steps outside the building.”

“She seemed mostly normal when we found her, if a little confused,” Tom added as the paramedic wrote down every word.

“Right, we’ll take all that into consideration.” Once he was finished, he said something to the people inside. They began leading her out in a neck brace as Sabine stifled a sob at seeing her daughter. Tom held her while Adrien tried to smile in support for Marinette, who looked scared.  
“Don’t worry ma’am, we’ll take good care of her. That is just a precaution to avoid further damage since she was hit on the back of the head. You can follow along behind us to the hospital.”

Her parents nodded as they moved to leave and follow the ambulance. Adrien looked inside the vehicle as his girlfriend lay down on a gurney inside. She caught his eyes as they were strapping her down to the bed. He smiled reassuringly at her, and she smiled weakly in return.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” He told her. She moved her hand slightly to show that she heard as they closed the doors, blocking any further response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, before you ask, yes Ladybug's magic put everything at the show back the way it was, but people frozen there while she was freaking out about Adrien, caused more damage after they were unfrozen. People were frozen mid-run or half fell over. that's my version anyway. Yes, Ladybug always intended to give the miraculous to Chloe because she thought she had changed, seemed that was a bit premature for the superheroine. Yes, Alya saw all of their exchange and truly believes what she says and we'll touch on that in the next chapter. It can go two ways in my head, just gotta figure out which way I want to take it. And finally, I firmly believe that anyone transformed cannot be seriously harmed vis external injuries because Thomas once said the suits are "indestructible". That does not mean you can have internal injuries from the shock of hitting things like brick walls. Broken bones and gashes? Not gonna happen in my story. Concussions and other internal injuries? Plausible by my headcanon. See you all in the next one!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mari gets out of the hospital, only to be visited by her favorite cat. Something happens that upsets kitty and he need a quick dose of reality to snap him back from the darkness. Does Hawk Moth have his next victim?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with me and sorry for this chapter taking so long. I've been really busy with holidays and such so this took way longer than it should have. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll try to post more often.

“Mom, I promise I’m not gonna do anything. I just want to relax on the computer and stream my shows to catch up. I’ll let you know if I get sleepy or start to feel weird,” Marinette said for the third time since she got home from the hospital. A mild concussion and her parents were ready to put her in a plastic bubble.

“Okay, if you’re sure. Don’t sleep until we check on you, okay?” her Mama called up as she took the last couple of steps into her room.

“I promise, now I’m gonna miss it if I don’t hurry!” They were being so clingy since her going to the hospital after the fashion show. She felt totally normal right now, and she didn’t think that would change anytime soon.

“Alright. Call us if you need anything.” Marinette shut the hatch and waited a few moments before climbing up to her balcony, being sure to turn the computer on a video so her mother wouldn’t be suspicious. 

Taking a deep breath of the cooling air cleared her head as she gazed out at the city she’d grown up in as it transformed before her. The rooftops basked in the orange glow of the setting sun. Any moment now the Eiffel Tower in the distance would light up like a Christmas tree as the darkness descended upon Paris. The quiet padding of feet told her she’d made it before her visitor arrived, just like she had wanted.

“Mari.” 

That was all he said as she turned to face him. Clad in his superhero black leather suit, cat ears low and worrying his belt’s buckle, stood Chat Noir. Or, as she knew him…

“Adrien.” Her smile felt it might crack her face. She hadn’t seen him the whole time she was being checked out by the doctors. She assumed it was because his father wouldn’t let him visit. But he was here now, and everything was infinitely better now that she could hug him. She really needed a hug.

Wasting no more time, she stepped over to him, wrapping her arms around his body. He released the tip of his tail moments before she hugged him and rested his head on her shoulder. She had her head rested against his chest, so she heard his sigh of relief at seeing her safe.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you at the hospital, but my father-” he started, but she cut him off.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re here now. I’m sorry I worried you so much.” At hearing her words, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away from him, shocking her.

“You don’t need to apologize! I should be the one saying sorry. First I got hit by the Akuma so I couldn’t help you fight her, then I abandoned you at the hospital. I’m a horrible boyfriend. You deserve someone better.”

A cold chill ran down her spine. Was he trying to break up with her? She stomped her foot on the ground, anger flooding her for a second. His eyes jerked back to her suddenly stiff body.

“Adrien Agreste, if you think for one second you are going to break up with me after I waited so long to finally get this far, you are out of your mind. Do you even have any idea how long I’ve felt this way for you? I know I’ve told you before, so you better remember this time because I’m not repeating myself. There was nothing you could do about Style Queen attacking you. I’ve only got a mild concussion, it's nothing serious.” Her anger ebbed a bit and she relaxed as he let her continue saying what was on her mind. “You are an amazing boyfriend. I don’t know what could have happened had you not made me go to the hospital. I couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend.”

Her sweet smile, the hand on his cheek, and her words nearly brought tears to his eyes. “Would you perhaps say I was a “model” boyfriend?” She groaned and he snickered. The laughter in her eyes was something he couldn’t ignore. He loved her, and she loved him. That was all that mattered.

“Your puns are getting worse, kitty,” she said as she opened the hatch that leads back down to her room. “Now, detransform so Plagg can see Tikki.”

“He has been a tad nicer to me since our reveal. I almost don’t recognize him anymore.” 

“Hehehe, yeah, well Tikki might have an idea as to why that is.” Once sitting on her bed, she folded her legs facing him. Tikki zipped next to her, nuzzling her cheek, bringing another smile to Marinette’s face. Adrien loved her smile.

“I only said that all Chat Noirs and Ladybugs are destined to meet in some way, and most end up together,” Tikki said as she shrugged. Adrien cocked his head to the side a little, processing what the Kwami was saying.

“Really? Exactly how many of them end up like Mari and me?”

“Not all, but sugar cube here really likes to romanticize the past,” Plagg teased as he floated over to rest beside Tikki.

“I do not, and I told you not to call me that,” Tikki said as she glared at Plagg. He simply shrugged and ate an entire wedge of cheese whole. She rolled her eyes at his gluttony.

“She told me that some end up just being friends while others deny their feelings and move on once their tasks are done. And others…” She couldn't say this to him, could she?

“Others what?” He looked worried. She felt she had to say it.

“Well, it’s just… um…” She felt her face heat. She’d dreamed of what she was about to say so many times, but the words wouldn't come out, at least to him.

“What she’s trying to say is they get married, have a bunch of kids and live happily ever after,” Plagg said as he elbowed Adrien’s cheek. Marinette’s cheeks blazed as she ducked her head down. Adrien, for his part, blushed a bit too. They were still teenagers, worried about high school and saving the world. Anything past the next Akuma attack or midterm was future plans and rarely crossed his mind. He’d assumed someday he would marry someone, preferably Ladybug, but that had never seemed real to him until this moment. He knew who His Lady was behind the mask, so this could actually be a thing that happened. Maybe once they got out of school?

Marinette’s mind raced. Adrien hadn’t said anything since Plagg finished speaking. Tikki was berating the Kwami for embarrassing her owner, but that would do little now. Maybe he didn’t want to get married. Maybe he didn’t want to marry her. Maybe his father had someone lined up for him already, someone in the fashion industry that could boost his career and set him up for life. What if his father wouldn’t approve of their relationship. He didn’t seem like the nicest person, but he wouldn’t try to hurt his son’s feelings like that, right?

She wouldn’t put anything past Gabriel Agreste. After several long minutes of quiet from Adrien, she dared to peak up at his face. His eyes seemed far away, unfocused. The blush was still on his cheeks, as was a smile on his face, so she hoped whatever he was thinking was good. He sighed happily and she sat up a bit straighter, the movement snapping him out of whatever daydream he was having.

“Are you okay, Adrien?” She asked carefully.

“Yeah, just thinking of the future we could have. Our wedding, the private island we’d own, the family that we could build together. I’m looking forward to it!” He grinned wide at her.

That was a bit of a shock to her system. Did he dream of all that just like she did? Was this the first he’d ever thought about it or had it crossed his mind before?

“One question though,” he said, suddenly looking very serious. Uh-oh. “What kind of pet would we have?”

She blinked. The answer was obvious for her and without another thought, she blurted, “A hamster.”

That seemed to be what he wanted to hear as his eyes practically lit up. “I agree! They are just so tiny and cute!” She giggled and they chatted for a little while about the type of house they’d get, his idea of a private island (which sounded kind of silly to her, but if he wanted it…) until they laid back on her bed in a comfortable silence that settled around them. It had felt like hours had passed, but a check of her phone showed it had only been an hour and a half since he’d arrived. She rolled over to plug her phone in only to feel an arm snake around her waist causing her to freeze.

“What’s wrong?” She managed, gently placing her hand over his.

“I want to stay over tonight. Honestly, I don’t want you out of my sight ever again, but I know that’s not possible. I was so worried about you. Do you think it’d be alright?” His forehead was against her back as he cuddled up close to her. Just like my kitty, she thought to herself.

“I would say yes, but the doctors told my parents to check on me every hour tonight to make sure I wake up. If they do and they see you…” 

“That’d be tough to explain. I get it. Was the injury really that serious?” He released her enough to let her roll over and cuddle close to him, legs twisting as they got comfortable.

“The damage was minimal, according to the scans so I should be perfectly fine in a couple of days. Might have to take a day or two break from being Ladybug, but I’ll be back to normal before the end of the week. Let’s hope Hawk Moth takes a break, right?”

Adrien snorted. “Fat chance of that happening, but I hope for your sake he does. How’s your bump? Does it still hurt?” He started to move to reach for it, but she grabbed his hand and placed it on her cheek and closed her eyes.

“Not at all. I can take over the counter pain meds if I need to, but I’m trying to avoid that. Sometimes they make me sleepy,” she admitted.

“Well, I suppose since I can’t stay over, I should let you rest. Will you be at school tomorrow?” He asked in his gentle whisper he got when he was preparing to leave. She instantly didn’t want him leaving right now, but she wouldn’t force him to stay. After all, she had hinted that he shouldn’t be here much longer.

“No, I was told I should rest for the day to make sure I’m healing. I’m gonna be sitting out in the bakery with my parents all day tomorrow bagging the pastries people order because they don’t want me running the register and messing up the change.” She rolled her eyes to show that she thought that was dumb, and he snickered. 

“Okay, then I guess I’ll see you on Tuesday. Or tomorrow night, if you’d rather see me sooner?” His Chat was showing as he quirked an eyebrow at her.

“The sooner the better, ‘model’ boyfriend,” she teased. His surprise and excitement showed all over his face. He really liked when she made dumb jokes, she would have to remember that.

“Alright then, Mi’Lady. I believe it’s time this cat allowed you your beauty sleep. Not that you need it.” He winked and she giggled.

“Marinette? Are your shows over? Are you ready for bed? Or any medicine?” Her mother called from the bottom of the stairs, but approached quickly.

“Go, hurry!” she whispered as Adrien and Plagg scrambled up and out to her balcony. The hatch was just shutting as Marinette crawled to her ladder, positioning herself right in the middle of it when her bedroom hatch swung open. 

“Sorry Mama, I forgot to call you. Yeah, I’m ready for bed.”

“Okay, let me help you.” Despite several assurances to the contrary, Marinette quickly found herself being tucked into bed like she was three again. Her mother wished her goodnight, promising to see her soon with the multiple rude awakenings that were sure to be coming tonight. The hatch closed quietly and she could feel her body begin to relax as her eyes grew heavy. Tikki nudged her cheek and pointed up. Marinette’s eyes traveled easily above her, but what she saw was not what she expected.

Glowing green eyes wrapped around a black mask stared back, almost causing her to sit up from the bed. She wasn’t startled, she never would be by seeing her boyfriend. She was more worried something was wrong. Chat blinked and, seemingly understanding that Marinette wanted to say something, opened the balcony hatch a crack.

“What are you still doing here?” she whispered.

“Sorry I…” He seemed to be struggling against something, so she waited. And worried. Finally, after a few more moments, he continued, “I guess I just miss that kind of stuff. My mom tucking me in. My father reading me a story before bed. He used to make time for us, but now…”

Her heart broke for him in that moment. The sadness and utter loneliness this young man had to live with every day. He was always surrounded by people, but few of them had any meaning. Going to school had changed him for the better, or so he had said, giving him more people to care about. Marinette had helped so much, even before they started dating he’d told her recently. She was the healthy version of him, surrounded by people who really loved her and didn’t just pretend to. She was his light through the darkness around him, and in that moment she felt she was abandoning him.

Everything in her told her to invite him back in and hold him all night long. But she couldn’t risk it. Couldn’t risk anyone asking questions. The sadness showed in her eyes despite herself, and he responded with a small smile.

“I’ll be alright, just got a little sentimental seeing your mom and...”

“Never apologize for missing her,” Marinette said quietly. She thought she saw his eyes shiver slightly with unshed tears, but he blinked so quickly that she couldn’t be sure. He nodded then and, pole in hand, closed her door and vaulted off the balcony.

“Tikki, was there anything else I could have done for him?” She wouldn’t cry, not now, but the tears wouldn’t listen.

“Some things just have to be worked out on their own. I’m sure Adrien will be alright. He has Plagg, and putting his usual attitude aside, he cares for Adrien as I care about you.” The Kwami snuggled next to her chosen for a long time before retreating to hide from Marinette’s parents. Mari hoped he would be alright, but the sadness in his eyes worried her. Maybe she would try to go to school, after all, at least half a day.

As Adrien landed in his room, detransforming as he went, he grabbed the first thing he saw, a pillow from his white sofa, and threw it across the room. Sadness turned to anger as he made his way home. If Hawk Moth hadn’t sent that Akuma after his father and attacked him, making him unable to help Ladybug, Mari might not have never gotten hurt in the first place. If she hadn’t taken on that enemy on her own… If _he_ hadn’t sent her… if _he_ wouldn’t have even popped up-

“Then I wouldn’t be here at all, there would be no Chat Noir or Ladybug, you might never have met and fallen in love with Marinette,” Plagg said, hovering in front of his face. He was out of breath and he wasn’t sure why.

“How did-”

“You were speaking out loud, genius.” Plagg gave his chosen a moment to really realize what happened before speaking again. “Even though I hate admitting it, what Sugarcube said is true. All Chat Noirs and Ladybugs are destined to meet at some point in their lives, we Kwamis just help facilitate that meeting a bit. Hawk Moth is the ultimate baddie we have to take down, you have to keep a clear head. Keep thinking in that train of thought and you’ll be his next target.”

Adrien didn’t even realize he’d let his sadness and worries get the better of him. It made him a target, and he would never leave Ladybug, no, Mari hanging like that again. “Sorry Plagg, I’ll calm down.”

“You’d better, you have to get me more cheese. I’m starving!” Rolling his eyes at the gluttonous Kwami, he went to his mini fridge and provided the requested nourishment. Happily, Plagg grabbed the wedges and began eating as Adrien got dressed for bed. Being sure to keep his thoughts to himself, he promised to never forget this day and the pain Hawk Moth caused everyone. Including his Lady.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooo, will we see a Chat Blanc in this fic? No spoilers!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and keep following this fic. School starts up for kids in my county so I should be able to write more and update sooner. I've got the rest of the chapters lined up and outlined so I know where the story is going now. You guys might hate me, or love me. I won't be able to tell until later. See you in the next one!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is asked to meet Mr. Agreste. Things don't go as he expects, but they do go exactly as Marinette thought it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After goodness knows how long, I finally update this thing. The most recent episode, Oblivio, has inspired me to pick this up again. I hope you enjoy this long-awaited chapter.

The next day dragged on for both superheroes. Marinette sat out in the bakery talking to the customers and helping out her parents when she could while Adrien went through to motions of being an attentive student. Alya, Nino, and Adrien stopped by the bakery at their break and ate up in the apartment while they caught Marinette up on everything she’d missed so far. Chloe was late that morning and looked a bit rough around the edges, which shocked Mari when she heard it. She wished she could see it, but her parents were strict about following doctor’s orders. When the time came that her friends had to head back to class, she held Adrien back a bit to speak to him privately.

“About last night… sorry for not letting you stay over. It’s just, with my parents being so protective and everything-”

“It’s alright Mari, I get it. Your parent’s care about your well being, and that’s not a bad thing. Enjoy it while you can,” he said around a weak smile. Marinette knew him well enough by now to see through it.

“Adrien, I’m sure your father loves you and cares about you, he just has a funny way of showing it. Maybe he just needs more time to heal.” She saw him avert his eyes downward, as if ashamed about something.

“It’s not that. His way of showing affection doesn’t bother me much anymore, I was more worried about something else.”

“What’s wrong then?” 

“Well, before the fashion show, I kinda yelled at him.” Her shock must have registered on her face because he quickly continued. “It’s just that he was talking badly about you and I got so mad. You do so much for everyone around you and you care so much about everybody, that I couldn’t let him talk bad about you. He was trying to get me to dump you, but I love you and he got mad so… I dunno, it was really stupid and childish of me.”

Her heartbeat kicked up in her chest at his explanation. He stood up to his father on her behalf, defending his right to be his own person. This wasn’t the first time he had stood up to his father, but the times were few and far between and the fact that this time was because of her, it brought tears to her eyes. His father didn’t want them together. Her idol didn’t like her. 

“What did he say about me?” She had to know.

“It’s not important Mari, I’ll deal with my father so…” Something in her expression must have weakened his resolve, because he sighed and said, “He doesn’t like the effect you’ve had on me. He thinks my shift in behavior has to do with you when really I’m just tired of being ordered around and alone so much. But he doesn’t see that, or he just doesn’t care.”

Tears forgotten, black anger welled up inside her. She was a bad influence? No, _he_ was the bad influence. Ignoring his son, giving him so many different lessons, not allowing him to go to school until he ran away one day. Forcing him to model and be in advertising for his clothing line. This guy needs to be set straight, and Marinette was just the person to do it! No one would hurt her kitty and get away with it.

“Adrien, your father was wrong. You are surrounded by people who care about you as you deserve, and he is afraid he will lose you. I’ll talk to him if he wants to speak to me about his concerns. Please tell him so.” She kept her voice as calm and controlled as possible, but she feared it wouldn’t hold for long.

“Mari, please. Just let me handle him. I don’t want him to get to you.”

“Trust me, Adrien, I’ve handled Chloe for years. I’m sure I can handle your father.” She waved his worry away. She wouldn’t be bullied anymore.

“I believe you think you can handle him, Mari, but please don’t. Look, we’ll talk later I have to get back to class or I’m gonna be late. I love you.” With one final kiss on her cheek, Adrien ran out of the bakery and back to the school. Marinette tried to accept Adrien’s words, but she couldn’t. She could handle one abusive bully, so why couldn’t she handle another, right?

She would soon get her wish as, towards the end of school that day, her parents got a phone call on the bakery’s phone. Her mother answered and, after a confused look, handed the phone to her daughter.

“Hello?”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. My name is Nathalie, Mr. Agreste’s assistant. We’ve met before,” the woman on the other end answered.

“Yes, I remember you. How can I help you?” Marinette calmly asked.

“Mr. Agreste would like to speak with you this evening if you have time. He would like to check on your well being after your unfortunate accident at his show yesterday.”

“Um, I’ll have to talk to my parents about it, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Can he come here and we can talk?” Now was her chance to tell Adrien’s father exactly what she thought of him.

“I’m afraid is he much to busy right now to leave. I would send a driver to come and pick you up in about 2 hours if that time frame meets your parent’s approval.” The nearly emotionless Nathalie spoke as if things were already settled.

“Um, okay. I’ll let my parents know. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Understood. I will inform Mr. Agreste right now. See you in two hours, Ms. Dupain-Cheng.” The call promptly dropped and Marinette hung up the phone. 

It took nearly as long as the two hours allotted pick up time to fully convince her parents to let her go to the meeting with Mr. Agreste. The tipping point she made, about possibly gaining some further information for her fashion career, swayed her parent’s into allowing her to go on the condition that if she felt the slightest bit upset or strange to leave and come home. So it was that, when she was standing outside waiting for the car, her parents were with her when it finally pulled up. This time, just like last time she had gotten in the car, the Gorilla was driving but unlike the other time, Nathalie was in the back seat and opened the door for her. Her mother walked up to Nathalie and spoke to her about keeping an eye on her daughter, while Marinette’s father helped her inside the car. 

“I assure you, Mrs. Cheng, should Marinette feel even the slightest bit upset, we will bring her home immediately. We would never let someone with a head injury walk home after dark.” Nathalie assured her mother before getting into the seat next to Marinette and shutting the door.

“Thank you for picking me up,” Marinette said.

“Of course,” was all Nathalie said before the car drove off. The ride was quiet as Marinette thought about what she would say when she finally met Adrien’s father. The things he had said told her all about him, all the harsh words he had been told since his mother went missing, all his pain and hurt made her mad. She wanted to form the perfect reaction to all the pain his father had put him through when she saw him. She thought she knew what to expect from her past interactions with him, but she was wrong.

When they finally pulled up to the front of the Agreste mansion, Mr. Agreste was outside the door waiting for them. She had never seen him outside his house before, so she just stared for a moment after the door was opened for her. 

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, thank you for coming,” Mr. Agreste said.

“Of-of course, sir,” Marinette stuttered with a smile. He held out his hand to help her out of the car, which she took. Placing it gently on his arm, he helped her up the stairs and into the house. After leading her into his study, he motioned for her to sit on the white couch while he sat across from her. All the words suddenly blanked from Marinette’s mind as she sat before her boyfriend’s father. They sat for a moment while Nathalie got requests for drinks before Mr. Agreste started speaking.

“I do hope you are feeling better after your injury, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. I was quite upset upon hearing of someone at my son’s show going to the hospital. Especially since you are dating my son.”

“I’m doing much better, Mr. Agreste, and please call me Marinette.”

“Of course, Marinette. You may call me Gabriel.” Nathalie had returned with the drinks. She handed the glass of water to Marinette and the small cup of tea for Gabriel. Marinette took a few sips of her water and waited for Gabriel to speak again. She needed him to make the first move.

After clearing his throat, he started to speak again. “Marinette, it pleases me greatly that you seem to care so much for my son, Adrien, but something still troubles me. I’m sure he spoke with you about what happened before the show?”

“Why, no Gabriel, sir. We didn’t speak of it at all.” She couldn’t very well say he snuck into her room last night and spoke about it. For all that he knows, she had only seen him before the show and shortly after. Maybe he thought she was at school today? “I haven’t seen him since before I went to the hospital last night. I wasn’t in school, so I was looking forward to seeing him again today, is he here?”

“I see. No, he isn’t here right now. He is doing a photo shoot at the moment. But either way, it seemed he cares for you as much as you care for him. Perhaps a bit too much. Your friend, Chloe Bourgeois, came by recently and didn’t have the most, shall we say ‘pleasant’ things to say about you. Well, it may have been a month or so ago that she stopped by, but my schedule hasn’t been open enough to speak to you before now. I would like to inquire as to your intentions with my son, Marinette?”

This was the moment Marinette had been waiting for. 

“I do care for Adrien very much, sir. I have no intentions other than being there for him and loving him with all my heart as long as he’ll have me. I have liked him for a very long time, since shortly after he began to go to my school, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.” Even though her emotions were strong, she kept her voice level and calm. Getting angry would not help in this situation, at least not yet.

“Very outspoken, Marinette. So it seemed I was correct in my assumption that you are the person affecting my son is such a way. I would like you to consider leaving him so he may return to his studies in peace. Perhaps a tour around my design studio would be sufficient payment for your troubles? Surely with your desire to pursue a job in fashion design, looking around a professional studio will distract you enough to not think of Adrien so much. If you require more, I am willing to pay you as well for making him happy, but further distraction caused by you will not be permitted.”

She was shocked by his standing and walking over to a small side table and pulling out a checkbook. Was he really trying to bribe her to leave Adrien? Marinette couldn’t believe this man. Adrien was so much happier now that he had friends and a girlfriend, why couldn’t he see that? She couldn’t help the amount of anger that came out of her mouth then.

“No, sir. No amount of money or studio tours would stop me from seeing your son. I love Adrien, and he loves me. We are meant for each other and nothing you say or do can change that!”

“Oh Marinette, I’m sure you children believe that now, but things change as you age. Real love, love like I have for my wife, cannot be quantified at such an age. My son will see that soon enough because when you truly love someone, you are willing to do anything for them. No matter who you hurt, no matter who gets in your way, you will not stop until you get them.” Barely controlled rage filled Gabriel’s eyes when he turned to Marinette and she had never been more terrified. He must have seen the fear in her eyes, because after a breath he said, “I see we understand each other. Now, I will have Nathalie take you home so you may continue to recover. Good night, Ms. Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette stood, shocked at the ferocity Adrien’s father had just shown. She walked to the doorway with Nathalie then stopped. She remembered something he said, and she turned to him again.

“I do understand the desire to protect the people you love, Mr. Agreste. I would do anything for my friends, my parents, and Adrien. So please, don’t forget my words when I say this. Don’t make Adrien sad anymore, or you will regret it.” When she finished speaking, she left the room, leaving Gabriel Agreste stunned.

She didn’t mind the silence on the way home, as her hands were shaking and her heart was pounding. Had she really said that? Had she really just threatened Mr. Agreste? What exactly would she do if he made Adrien sad anymore? What could she do? So many questions began rolling through her head that she almost didn’t notice when the car stopped. She went up to her room, after several assurances that she was fine, and went right to her balcony. She waited for what seemed like forever before Chat Noir landed on her railing, a silly cat-like grin on his face, but she didn’t look at him.

“Good evening Purrincess, how was your da-”

“I saw your father today, and threatened him.”

Chat Noir grabbed onto the railing, suddenly losing his balance.

“You-you what?!” She explained everything that happened and what each had said, Adrien, getting more nervous by the second. “Marinette, I asked you to let me handle it! What if he gets akumatized again, or you for that matter!”

“I know, it was stupid, but I couldn’t help it! I hate what he does to you, Adrien, and I just wanted him to understand!” She covered her face with her hands, sinking down to the ground and leaning her back on her railing. Adrien hopped down gently next to her and pulled her into his lap, holding her against him. She was shaking, he felt through his gloved hands, and he quietly shushed her.

“It’s okay, you’ll be okay. We can do anything when we are together. We’ve been through worse than this, bugaboo. We make a great team.” He didn’t know how long he’d held her, neither did she, but they didn’t care either.

“Would you stay here tonight?” She asked, quietly enough that even his super hearing had a hard time.

“You okay with that?” He rested his chin on the top of her head when he felt her nod. “Okay. No problem.”

Quietly slipping back inside, Adrien detransformed and curled up to Marinette on top of the blankets. She then produced another blanket for him to use, which he covered them both with. He was used to this by now, cuddling close to her for a while before scooting over to give her space, but this time she reached around and grabbed his hand, bringing it up to her lips to kiss his fingertips. He felt the warmth spread to his cheeks as she didn’t let go of his hand. Instead, she settled it around her waist, holding him in place and forcing him to stay pressed against her.

“Mari, what are you doing?” He asked, careful to make sure his voice didn’t crack.

“I want you close to me, so you know you are never alone. We will always be a together, either as Ladybug and Chat Noir or as Marinette and Adrien. We make a great team and couple, and I don’t want that to end.” She never turned to look at him, but she couldn’t hide the fear and tears from her voice. With his free hand, he reached up, moved her hair aside and kissed the back of her neck, causing her to freeze. He hadn’t done that before.

“Never, Marinette. I’ll be here as long as you want me to be. We are an amazing team, and that won’t ever change. And a purretty good couple if I do say so meowself.” Chat grin plastered on his face, she turned toward him slightly to reveal her hot, red cheeks at his kiss to smack him with a pillow.

“Bad puns, Kitty.” She said, humor echoing in her voice. He snickered quietly and used the pillow under his head. She still held his hand in place, so he stayed curled up next to His Lady, sleeping wonderfully for the first time in 2 days.

*****

Gabriel was barely able to keep his anger in check the whole day. How dare that little girl threaten him. Who did she think she was, to say such a thing? Tell him to not make his son “sad.” She would learn not to cross Gabriel Agreste. He picked up his phone and dialed the semi-familiar number. It had been a while, and it was quite late, but hopefully, the person he sought would answer. On the third ring, they picked up.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Bourgeois?”

“Yes? Who is this?”

“Gabriel Agreste. Seems you were correct about that Marinette girl, thank you for the warning.”

“Of course, Mr. Agreste! I told you, that baker’s girl was nothing but trouble! I have an idea of how to get rid of her!” The teen went from sounding tired and irritated to positively pleased with herself at being right.

“Well, let me know if I can help in any way.” Chloe, on the other end of the phone, reached over to her nightstand and opened the drawer, pulling out a small box with red, Chinese designs on it.

"Oh, trust me, Mr. Agreste. I have it all under control.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank's for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I wanted to take this time to explain what has taken me so long to update this fic.
> 
> I have been recently working on an original series in my pursuit of being a published author. I'm looking to self publish my first work in the coming months, so I'll update you guys about when that happens if you are interested. It's a story I've wanted to tell for many years and I am looking forward to getting it out there for others to see. 
> 
> That being said, my focus is on that and not on a fic I do for free, but I would still like to finish this story to its end. About 3 or 4 more chapters and it should be done, but updates may still take a while as I am working on my second book. I hope you look forward to the next chapter (whenever that happens)
> 
> Thank's again, and I'll update when I can.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe puts her *new* plan into place after Luka shows up to rattle our love square.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here we go. A new chapter of AMBF is here for your reading pleasure. I should be working on my novel but nope, this suddenly popped into my head. So here, take it! *runs away to hide*

Marinette was just making her way across the street to school when her phone goes off, indicating she had just received a text. Stopping just before the crosswalk, she goes into her bag, avoiding the sleeping Tikki, as she grabs her phone and wakes it up instead. The little alert says she has received a new text message from Adrien. With a goofy smile on her face, she swipes her screen to see what he said. 

Since she had woken up that morning, he had sent several messages to her but each one was exciting for her. She felt bad about the things she said to his father, but it seemed that she had no reason to worry. Adrien had told her that his father was acting normally, as cold and distant as usual, so she pushed her concern aside and decided to focus on the school day ahead. It had been a couple of days since her encounter with Adrien's father, so she took it as a good sign that nothing would come of the disagreement. 

As she read the text her boyfriend had sent, her cheeks reddened and her goofy smile faded. The message simply said:

**[ Good morning, Purrincess. Nice to see you]**

Snapping her head up, her eyes locked onto that of her Kitty. He stood in front of the school, phone still in his hand and smiling at her. The smile spreading back across her face, she started to run across the street, hearing the honking only seconds before she looked down the street. A car was coming down the side street and she was mid-sprint. She stumbled to a stop, completely in shock, as the car tried to brake while it’s horn blared at her to move. But she couldn’t, she was frozen in place, terrified.

A hand grabbed her arm and yanked her to the side, causing her to fall onto them as the car screeched to a halt right where Marinette had been. She gasped, realizing she was holding her breath and started panting with adrenaline rushing through her veins. The person driving the car had gotten out and rushed over to Marinette and her savior, asking if they were okay. Marinette had looked up, a smile on her face to thank Adrien for saving her, but she was forced to stop mid-sentence as her eyes met blue ones instead of green.

“Yes, we’re fine. Marinette, are you okay?” Luka said, slightly winded. Adrien was only a few steps behind him but was also frozen in place at seeing his girlfriend laying on top of Luka. Marinette, suddenly realizing where she was, frantically tried to pull herself off of Luka and sat beside him instead.

“Um, yeah! I’m ferfectly pine, I mean perfectly fine! Thanks, Luka,” she stuttered, a blush spreading over her cheeks as she looked at the older boy, which Adrien caught. 

The driver asked them again if they were sure they were okay before, after several reassurances, going back to his car. Adrien remained where he was as he watched Luka pull himself to stand and offer a hand to Marinette, which she took. He watched his Bugaboo’s face, and the goofy look she had on it as she looked at Luka, and he felt a pang in his chest. Her cheeks were pink. Her hand was behind her head as she thanked him for saving her. She was holding his hand for a while before she seemed to realize she was. His heart hurt.

“So, Luka, what brings you to the school? Here to see your sister?” Marinette asked, hands resting now at her sides, finally.

“No. Actually, I’m here because your teacher wanted me to share some of my music with the class. Seems your principal heard us playing at the music festival and spoke to me a few days ago. I explained how I play music based on how the heart of a person feels, and he thought it might help the students by sharing it with them.”

“That’s great! Your music is awesome, I can’t wait to hear what you play for us,” she smiled at him as she spoke. Adrien couldn’t help the sick feeling he got in the pit of his stomach. He walked the last few steps to Marinette and grabbed her hand, causing her to snap her head quickly to him as if she had forgotten he was there.

“Hey Luka, good to see you again,” he said, model smile plastered on his face.

“Nice to see you again, Adrien. Well, I’ve got to get ready. See you two later.” Luka waved as he walked towards the entrance of the school.

“Wow, getting to hear Luka’s music in class is gonna be great! He’s so talented!” Marinette gushed. She looked over to Adrien with a smile, but it faded as he didn’t seem to be looking at her. “Adrien, are you okay?” Adrien flinched.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, that model smile plastered on his face again. She’d known him long enough to know he was lying.

“No, you’re not. What’s wrong?” Then, as if suddenly realizing, she said, “Oh, it is because you didn’t save me? It’s okay Kitty, I forgive you.” She wrapped her arms around him in a hug, smiling as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“Ye-yeah, sorry about that. You know I like to be the one doing the saving,” he said in his best impression of himself. She fell for that. “Let’s go into school, we’re gonna be late.”

“Ah! You’re right, let’s go!” Marinette let go of Adrien’s hand and quickly rushed towards the school. He followed slowly after, feeling like this day was not going to be as good as he hoped.

They made it into class just in time and, just like he said, Luka was up in front of the class with Ms. Bustier beside him. His guitar case was on his back and there was an amp resting near the door. Adrien hadn’t seen him with it earlier, so it must have been borrowed from the school. 

“Good morning class. I’d like to introduce you to Luka Couffaine, Juleka’s older brother. He’s going to play a bit of music for the class this morning. Luka, what are you going to be playing for us today?” Ms. Bustier asked.

“Well, that depends. I need a moment to set up if you don’t mind,” he replies calmly. Ms. Bustier nods and takes a seat at her desk as Luka retrieves his guitar and closes his eyes. Marinette lets out a quiet gasp, causing Adrien to glance behind him in time to see Alya lean over to whisper to her.

“What’s going on?” Alya asked.

“He’s going to play someone’s heart!” At her friend’s confused look, Mari says, “ I saw him do it a couple of times. The first time he was meditating on his bed in his room when he startled me. Then he reached over and got his guitar and said ‘it seems your heart sounds like this’ then he played this adorable little, jittery tune! I wonder who he’s gonna play now!” She could barely contain her excitement and Adrien just couldn’t look at her anymore. He faced forward again while Nino looked at his friend in concern.

Luka had opened his eyes, a calm smile crossing his features as he placed his fingers across the strings. The tune he played was slow at first, just a few notes at a time on repeat. Then, it transitioned to a new cord that sounded sad but beautiful. The whole class was rocking slowly to the melancholy tune as it touched the hearts of all present, even bring a tear to Rose’s eye. It seemed to end too quickly as it trailed off at the end and the whole class applauded.

“That was beautiful, Luka. How did you come up with it?” Ms. Bustier asked.

“Well, I listened for the stronger heart in the room, and it seemed Adrien’s called out to me. I hope you don’t mind,” he said as he looked at the model in the front row. Adrien’s eyes widened and shrank into his seat as all eyes suddenly turned to him. He was used to being looked at, but this felt different.

“Um, sure Luka. No problem,” he responded, trying to keep his voice steady. Marinette eyed him carefully, concern on her face. Maybe his father had bothered him more than he’d told her.

“Luka, do you think you could play another song for us?” Ms. Bustier offered.

“Sure. Here’s one I’m working on for our band, Kitty-section. It’s not finished, but I don’t mind sharing it now.” After tweaking a few of the knobs on his guitar, he strummed out another song that the class thoroughly enjoyed.

After the second song ended, Luka left and bid the class farewell much to Adrien’s relief. Class continued until the lunch bell rang, Ms. Bustier calling out for the students to remember their homework due Friday. Adrien wanted to avoid the talk Marinette was surely going to try to give him, so he attempted to get to his driver’s car quickly. He’d caught her eying him after Luka left and he didn’t know how to explain the song he’d played.

His attempt to avoid his girlfriend failed, as Marinette caught his arm by the time he’d reached the steps. He sighed before turning to her, seeing the worry in her eyes.

“Sorry Mari, I need to get to lunch. My dad is waiting for me,” he lied.

“Adrien, are you okay? Is your dad making you sad again?”

‘If only she knew the truth,’ Adrien thought, but instead, he said, “Nope, he’s not. I gotta go, see you back in class!” He pulled his hand free and hurried down the stairs to the waiting car. Marinette, hurt in her eyes, watched him get in and drive off. Alya put a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“Come on girl, let’s go eat. You gotta keep up your strength because you’re still recovering, right?” Alya said, her voice trying to cheer her friend up.

“Yeah, sure.” Marinette turned away from the front of the school and headed back inside to the lunch room. 

Poking her head out of the bathroom as the pair walked upstairs, Chloe saw her chance and took it. She had gotten rid of her cling-on, Sabrina, with a false story about wanting high-quality pastries that she would have to travel two city blocks to get. Hiding in one of the bathroom stalls, she retrieved the small box that contained the golden hair comb. It was her favorite thing in the world at that moment, and the current discord between her Adrikins and that baker’s daughter was the perfect chance to try out her new powers.

Opening the box caused a burst of magic to pop from the comb and swirl around her. She smiled at the sight. The tiny creature, known as a Kwami, floated before her and bowed.

“How may I serve you, My Queen?” the tiny God asked.

“Pollen, Adrien and Marinette are having a rough patch. We are gonna make this tiny bump become a much bigger pothole! Pollen, transform me!”

The transformation wrapped around her as the suit covered her skin. The mask over her eyes, hiding her identity from everyone just like it did with Chat Noir and Ladybug. Once the magic faded from around her, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked straight for the front door. Once at the doors, she flung her spinning top out and made her way quickly to the Agreste mansion.

******************************

Adrien ate slowly, more playing with his food instead of actually eating. Finally determining he wasn’t hungry, he told Nathalie that he would spend the rest of lunch in his room under the guise of studying for a test. There was no test, but he did need some alone time. Once in his room, he laid down on his bed, arms outstretched. His Kwami, Plagg, floated up to his head, tiny arms crossed in front of him.

“Kid, something is up and since you can’t seem to talk to your girlfriend, I guess that just leaves me. So shoot, what’s wrong?”

With a heavy sigh, Adrien opened his eyes to look at the tiny god. “I don’t know, Plagg. Ever since I saw the way Marinette reacted to Luka, I’ve just felt weird. Like I’m angry and sad at the same time, and my chest hurts right here,” he said as he placed a hand over his heart.

“Hmm, sounds like you’re jealous to me,” Plagg said as he flicked his tail. “A silly human emotion, honestly.”

“Jealous? Why would I be jealous?” Adrien narrowed his eyes at his friend.

“Well, let’s see. Mari is your girlfriend and she is acting super nervous around Luka. Just like she used to act around you.”

Waving that off, Adrien responds, “That’s just because of him saving her and she landed on him.” That last part made him angry as he said it.

“And she was excited by the thought of his playing music ‘of the heart’,” Plagg added, air quotes and all.

“Mari loved music of all kinds,” Adrien defended.

“She was also in his room on his bed that one time. She asked him to go to the skating rink when you asked Kagami to go. They did look pretty in sync at the rink, too, come to think-”

“Shut up about him!” Adrien snapped. Plagg raised an eyebrow and Adrien covered his mouth in shock. “I--I am jealous.”

“Totally,” Plagg teased. Adrien groaned and covered his face with his pillow while Plagg floated to his chosen.

“What am I gonna do, Plagg?” Adrien said, but it came out as “Whaf’m I gunda do, Pwagg?”

“Um, I can think of only one thing to do. If that is what you asked.” Adrien removed the pillow and looked at Plagg, nodding. “Talk to someone else!”

“You’re no help,” Adrien groaned.

“I mean it. Talk to someone else, like Marinette. You know, your girlfriend? Tell her how you feel.”

Adrien sat up to look at the magical black cat. “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

“Because you’re an idiot,” Plagg mumbled.

“What was that?” Adrien said, producing a hunk of camembert.

“I said I have no idea!” Plagg grabbed the cheese and bolted for his chosen’s pocket to enjoy his snack. Adrien shook his head and started to walk to his door when he heard his window open. Thinking it was his girlfriend come to visit him, he turned only to be standing in front of someone else.

A woman clad in a yellow costume with black stripes throughout the outfit, in her blonde hair, and even on her mask stood before him. Around her waist, just like his Lady, was the string of her weapon, a top. He was about to ask who this person was when she grabbed her top in her hand.

“Venom!” she cried out as the top dissolved and became transparent. He held his arms out and closed his eyes just as he felt the prick. Suddenly he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even open his eyes.

“Pollen, revert me!” the wielder of the Miraculous cried and he heard the magic wash over them. 

“I’m here, my Queen,” the Kwami, apparently Pollen, said in her tiny voice. She sounded tired.

“Good, now to plan this properly. How long will this hold, Pollen?” Adrien knew that voice, and judging from the quiet gasp Plagg made, he knew the person too.

“Only a couple of minutes, my Queen. Do you have anything to eat? I’m very hungry after using my powers.”

“Oh, of course, I almost forgot! Here, a honey drop, your favorite!” The girl said. Who was that?

“Thank you, my Queen!”

“Get ready, Adrikins! You are about to be mine. I told you not to date that Dupain-Cheng girl, but you wouldn’t listen!” 

Now Adrien knew exactly who it was, and he realized that he couldn’t stop her from doing whatever it was that she was gonna do. He tried to will his body to move, but it wouldn’t respond no matter how hard he tried. From his eyelids to his toes, he was completely paralyzed.

“Pollen, I’ll need your help. Are you done, yet?” Chloe said.

“I’m here, my Queen.” Pollen responded, her mouth sounded full of food.

“Good, hold this and when I give this signal, push that button. Okay, ready?” And then he felt her body pressing against him. He would have flinched away from her, but he couldn’t move. Then, he felt something else.

He felt Chloe’s lips on his. 

She was kissing him! No, this isn’t right. Only Marinette was allowed to kiss him on his lips. He felt her lips moving over his still ones, then he heard a click. Shock washed through him as he realized what was really going on. She took a picture of them “kissing” with her phone. She was gonna show everyone that picture, he knew her well enough for that. Marinette was already concerned about him, and if she saw this…

Chloe.

He was madder than he had ever been as he tried to forcibly make his body move, but it still wouldn’t respond. He felt her leaning away from him and heard her squeal of delight.

“That’s perfect! She’ll be so heartbroken that she’ll be akumatized for sure! I can’t wait to show Marinette this! Let’s go, Pollen, we’re done here. Pollen, transform me!” Adrien heard the transformation take hold as she became whatever she called herself. He was just starting to move his little finger when he heard the pull of a string, so much like Mari’s yo-yo, and knew Chloe was gone. She was heading back to the school, to show that picture she took to everyone, including Mari.

“Well, that could have gone better, kid,” Plagg said. Even he sounded sad for his chosen. If Adrien could have cried, he would have, but he was still working to move his hands. The next thirty or so seconds dragged on as he finally got movement back through his body.

Once he was fully back to normal, he collapsed to the ground, hands covering his face as he finally let the tears fall, with Plagg patted his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, don't hate me! I just got into a Luka mood after hearing about the new episode next week. I promise I will resolve this next chapter as I have already begun it! I make no promises as to when that chapter will be ready, but I can assure you I won't leave this hanging for long.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe plan was successful! She stole a Kiss from Adrien and showed it to the whole class that Adrien cheated on Marinette, and he is devastated. Will she believe him if he tells her the truth? Or will Marinette know the truth before she even talks to her Kitty?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is guys! Another chapter ready to go for your reading pleasure! I hope you enjoy this as it set's up nicely for the next chapter where things go down. 
> 
> Also, there is another blush fest in this chapter, so be ready for that. Still keeping it PG13 for this fic guys!

“I'm done for. We're done for! Plagg, I'm gonna lose her to Luka!” he looked up at the Kwami while he cried. Pity showed in Plagg's face as he nuzzled Adrien's cheek.

“You'll work it out, Adrien. Just pick yourself up and tell Mari the truth. As annoying as it is for me to admit it, your love for her is stronger than I've seen in a while.” Adrien looked up at Plagg, holding the Kwami in his hands after removing him from his cheek. 

“Besides,” Plagg continued, “do you honestly think Marinette will believe Chloe?”

As if on cue, his phone alerted him to a new text message. When he looked at his phone to see who messaged him, his heart sank into his stomach. It came from Marinette.

**[I think we need to have a talk.]**

“I think she did. Hard to argue with a picture,” Adrien said as he sighed in defeat. The boy rested his head in his hands as his phone alerted to a few more messages that he ignored. 

**********************

“He’s not responding, Alya. I don’t want to believe Chloe’s lies, but if he won’t respond, what am I supposed to think?” Marinette had sent the message once Chloe returned to class after lunch and proudly showed them kissing in a seemingly romantic way. Nino had sent several messages to try and get him to respond, but had heard nothing yet.

“Don’t trust Chloe, she is just trying to cause trouble. I don’t know how she did it, but I know that picture is fake! Adrien wouldn’t cheat on you, girl!” Alya tried to assure her friend, who was on the verge of tears beside her at their desk. But nothing she said seemed to really sink in. The corners of Marinette’s eyes had tears forming, both Alya and Nino could see it clearly now.

“I-- I’m not feeling well. Ms. Bustier, may I be excused?” she asked as she held her hand up.

“Oh, of course, Marinette. I hope you feel better and see you tomorrow,” Ms. Bustier said. Marinette stood and walked quickly out of the classroom, hand over her mouth to cover her hiccups as tears ran down her face. 

Chloe watched smugly as Marinette practically ran out of the classroom, completely shattered. Pulling out her phone, she sent a text to Mr. Agreste, simply stating-

**[It’s done]**

Marinette rushed out the front doors of the school avoiding everyone until she turned around the corner into the alley between her house and the school. She leaned against the building, sliding down the side with her hands propping up her head. Tikki phased through her bag and floated near her chosen’s ear, careful to keep out of sight of the busy road.

“Marinette, it’s okay. There must be an explanation. Hey, Adrien never came back to school, why don’t we go visit him?” the tiny Kwami tried to sound hopeful.

“That was my plan, Tikki. If I fooled you, then I must have fooled everyone else too,” she looked up then, wiping the tears away. Instead of sad, she looked determined and confident.

“You mean you’re not upset?” Tikki was surprised. This was not a usual Marinette reaction.

“Oh I’m upset, but I’m not sad or heartbroken, I’m angry. I thought Chloe had changed, but of course, she hasn’t. It was way too much to hope for. There is something going on and I know Adrien is the key to figuring this out.” After checking to make sure there were no Parisians in sight, Marinette called out, “Tikki, Transform me!”

She had barely finished transforming when she threw her yo-yo around the nearest lamp post and pulled herself up and into the air. Making the trek to the Agreste mansion was easy enough, but avoiding the surveillance was a bit trickier. Using up nearly all of her luck, Ladybug arrived on the ledge just outside Adrien’s room, peeking in through the window.

There was Adrien, sitting on the floor with his head in his hands and his back against his bed. Her heart went out to him. She tapped gently against the window and noticed the tiny black body of Plagg separate from his owner, green eyes turning towards the window. She saw them widen in recognition and then he shook Adrien’s hand, saying something she couldn’t hear. Adrien slowly pulled his head up to look at Ladybug, dark patches under his eyes. Somehow finding the strength to move, he pulled himself to standing and walked over to the window in order to allow Ladybug entrance.

Once inside, she wasted no further time and wrapped him in a hug before he could even say a word.

“Ladybug, what are you- mph!” Throwing her own rules aside for the moment, she kissed her boyfriend until he kissed back. After several long seconds, they slowly pulled away and she saw Adrien’s eyes flit open. “I’ve dreamed about that for so long, you have no idea.”

“Heh, oh really? If I would have known it was that easy to make you melt, I’d have tried sooner!” She said, backing up a step and feeling lighter already at his small smile. “So, about that picture…” she trailed off, her voice evening out.

“Um, shouldn’t you detransform?” Adrien asked.

“Oh, you’re right. Tikki, revert me!” The magic fading as quickly as it had come over her, Tikki floated over to Plagg as the pair of teens moved to sit on Adrien’s white couch. Adrien still looked upset, so Marinette tried to smile again and placed a hand on his knee. He looked up at her smiling face and seemed to relax a bit.

“So, about that picture. It’s not what you think, I swear!” He sounded hysterical for a second, so she brought her hand up to rest against his cheek.

“I believe you, truly. Just tell me what did happen,” she responded, eyes softening.

“I don’t really understand how it happened but-” Adrien started to explain before Plagg cut him off.

“Chloe has the bee miraculous,” he stated while Tikki covered her mouth beside him. Marinette’s eyes widened as the destructive Kwami explained further. “ She transformed and used Pollen’s powers to freeze Adrien and frame the picture.”

“The bee miraculous… That’s the one I lost while fighting Style Queen! I was actually gonna give it to Chloe, but before I could her mom turned her into a golden glitter statue and I dropped it. I couldn’t go back for it because I was in the hospital. When I finally did go look for it, it wasn’t there,” she groaned while rubbing her head. “This is giving me a headache.”

“I’m sorry Mari, I really am. For everything! Not just for the picture and the kiss Chloe stole, but for being jealous of Luka and not talking to you about it sooner. For walking away before lunch and-”

“Wait, what was that?” Mari thought she heard wrong. Adrien bit his lip and looked away.

“I was jealous of Luka.”

“Because he saved me? Adrien, you don’t have to-”

“Please, Marinette. Let me finish?” She closed her mouth and nodded to let him continue. He looked back at her and began with, “It’s not because he saved you, it was your reaction to him. Once you realized it was Luka who pulled you away from that car, you started to stutter and blush and...it reminded me of how you used to act around me. The way you got so excited about his music and how he plays it when you told Alya during class. I guess--I mean I thought…” He looked down and away from Marinette. 

Now everything made sense to her. Seeing her Kitty acting like he might be abandoned by someone else he loved, brought a sadness she had never known for him. Brushing away the tears starting to form before they could fall, she reached around the taller boy and held him close, allowing his head to rest against her chest.

“Oh Adrien, I’m so sorry I made you feel that way.” She knew she had to word her next sentences carefully. “Luka is--well he’s special to me. He was kind to me at the music festival and helped me calm down after being startled. He went to the ice rink after you told me you wanted to try dating Kagami. He was, um, a nice distraction for my feelings for you. Not to mention a few years older so-” she was smiling but it fell and stopped talking after looking down at Adrien, who looked even more upset. 

“Sorry. Anyway, he helped me cope with my feelings in a different way than Alya and the other girls in our class did. They wanted me to just come out and say everything I was feeling for you, but I couldn’t. I was way too klutzy over not just my own two feet, but my words too. Luka was more like practice for the real thing. I guess I just kinda forgot for a bit that I have the best boyfriend in the world, Kitty.”

“So, you’re not going to dump me to be with Luka?” Adrien asked, sitting up enough to be eye level with Marinette. 

“Only if you don’t dump me to be with Chloe. Or Lila. Or Kagami. Or-”

“Okay, I get it!” He sat up, crossing his arms in front of him with a huff. She couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up and he peeked over his shoulder at her. 

“Well, it seems you two managed to overcome your first major bump in the road to your happily ever after, whoop-de-do,” Plagg snarked, floating over to his chosen while Tikki landed on Marinette’s head. She smiled at the little black cat while Adrien just glared at him.

“As cheerful and positive as always, Plagg,” Adrien responded, handing the Kwami his favorite cheese. He got the biggest grin on his face, took the cheese and zipped off to consume it in peace while Marinette just watched.

“There is still one matter that needs to be Agreste,” she said as she tapped her finger on her chin. Adrien snapped back to his girlfriend quickly.

“Did you just make a pun, My Lady?”

“Maybe,” she said as she smiled. Adrien chuckled.

“So, what are you thinking, Mari?”

“Of a way to get Chloe back once and for all. And I already have an idea!” So, the two teens spent the next hour or two planning out their revenge for the little snob who tried to break them apart. By the time Nathalie came to call him for dinner, Ladybug had already leapt from the window and was on her way back to her balcony. They both had things to plan for the next day, so Adrien excused himself early from dinner to set everything up while Marinette took her dessert to her room. With a bit extra for a certain Kitty that was going to stop by soon.

Right on cue, Chat Noir tapped on the trapdoor above Marinette’s bed, which she easily slid open for him to enter. In order for their plan to work, they may have to be apart for a while in the eyes of the public. So, because they had superpowers, they decided that they would spend what time they could together. 

Adrien stayed over with Marinette, cuddling closely all night long and fully enjoying every moment of it. He set his alarm to go off just before sunrise, giving him enough time to transform and get home before Nathalie came to wake him so he can get ready for school. He also had to do a bit of prep before being seen in the morning for their plan to work. He thought he set the alarm quietly enough to wake only him, but Marinette beside of him stirred too.

“MMmm, Adrien?” She reached vaguely behind her grabbing where she thought his hand might be but grabbing his thigh instead. She let go quickly, causing him to relax a bit before grabbing her hand again. She rolled over, suddenly very awake and wide-eyed as he brought her hand to his lips to kiss it gently.

“Sorry for waking you, Princess. You rest some more, I’ll head back now before your parent’s come for you.” He’d meant to sit up and sneak out through the roof access, but her next movements made escape impossible.

The hand he had released after kissing it wrapped around his chest, locking him his place. Her head moved from her pillow to his shoulder, nuzzling a bit until comfortable. Her leg draped across his lap as he realized, he was effectively pinned by his girlfriend. While he was elated by the affection he was being given, his sharp hearing picked up movement downstairs. He was about to say something when Marinette’s trap door in the floor below them suddenly opened.

“Marinette? Are you awake this early? I was just getting ready to bring some more flour down for your father and I thought I heard an alarm,” Mrs. Cheng asked, politely. At hearing the creak of the hatch, Marinette grabbed the blanket Adrien had just discarded in his attempted escape, covering him completely again, as well as herself. She rolled quickly over, so her back was to Adrien in an effort to block any possible view her mother might get of the boy she’d snuck in last night.

“Sorry Mama, I set my alarm too early. I thought I had to meet Alya early this morning for a project. I’m up now, so I’ll get up and be down to help in a bit, okay?” Marinette tried to keep her voice even, despite her boyfriend’s breath on the back of her neck. They always kept blankets between them when in her bed like this, but she still felt his body heat. They had never been under the same blanket with so much of their bodies touching like this. 

“Oh no, Dear, go ahead and rest. I’ll come and get you before school. I know you were upset yesterday about something. All that dessert you took to your room and all, plus you are still recovering from Sunday. Just take it easy and we’ll take care of everything downstairs. Though you shouldn’t use such a heavy blanket, you face is turning red. Rest well, darling.” She saw her mother smile before she stepped away from the hatch and pulled it closed again. 

Marinette couldn’t move, her face was indeed red but not because of the blanket she was using. It was because her boyfriend’s breathing, while her mother was talking, had quickened against the back of her neck. She fought the hot blush on her face as well as to keep her breathing normal until her mother had left. 

Adrien threw the blanket off of him and sat up, trying very hard to steady his breathing. Feeling the exposed skin of his arms and legs against Mari was almost too much for him to bear. He always wore pale blue pajama shorts and a white beater to bed whenever he stayed with her, but they had never been that close together before. Never had that much skin-to-skin contact. He thought his heart might burst. It took him a few seconds to calm down, and just as long to realize Marinette hadn’t moved yet. He leaned over a bit to check on her and stopped, his jaw dropping.

Her entire face was beat red. Tikki was trying to fan her with a small sketchbook, in an effort to cool her off.

“Um, Mari?” Adrien whispered. 

“Adrien’s breath. On my neck. Oh my God. Can’t think. Tikki, I’m dying,” she rambled softly. Adrien blushed all over again. While trying not to move, he sent his girlfriend into a panic attack. He tried to come up with a way to snap her back to reality when it dawned on him. Thinking quickly, he sat up, leaned back and pulled out his Chat Noir voice.

“Forgive me, My Lady, for being too hot to handle.” 

Tikki just glared at Adrien, very worried about her chosen. Marinette didn’t move, but she heard him and stopped mumbling.

“What’s the matter, Bugaboo, cat got your tongue?”

Tikki’s glare shifted to Marinette when she realized her chosen’s face was starting to return to a normal color.

“If my kisses were snowflakes, I’d send you a blizzard. Maybe that would cool you off. I don’t have the magic cheese, either. Forgive me Purrincess, I fear I can’t save you from the heatwave spreading over your face and down your neck,” he said as he placed a hand across his forehead. Tikki went from being worried about her chosen, to scared for Adrien as Marinette slowly sat up. Adrien had his eyes closed, arm across his face as Mari sat up on her bed. Her face was no longer red from embarrassment.

“You stupid cat!” She whisper-screamed at him, causing Adrien to look around his arm. “Why did you-! What were you -! I can’t even figure out what to ask you!”

“Purrhaps you could ask, ‘why are you so charming and purrfect?’” He gave her the biggest Cheshire cat grin he could. She glowered.

“Ugh, Kitty, you’re too much sometimes,” she said, putting a hand to her forehead and shaking her head. Adrien relaxed a bit and leaned in a bit too close.

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it? Plus, you love me!”

“I guess that’s true. I suppose you expect thank you?” She asked, gracing him with a sweet smile.

“No time! I’ve got to shake a leg if I’m gonna make it back in time before Nathalie comes to wake me up. Can’t have them knowing I was over at my girlfriends, now can I?” He waggled his eyebrows at her, making Marinette giggle. He quickly transformed and jumped out onto her balcony before extending his pole and vaulting across the rooftops. Marinette just shook her head after he’d left and made her way down to her room in order to get ready for school. She had some prep to do, too, so she began with going to her vanity and finding her makeup.

She only just started using it a few weeks ago since Adrien showed her how, but she rarely wore as much as she was about to apply. She began with darkening below her eyes and lightly applying pink eyeliner, mimicking the appearance of red and puffy eyes. She had to look more upset than she actually was, and this makeup would be just what she needed to pull it off. She hoped Adrien got back to his room quickly because he had to do much of the same thing himself. After several minutes in front of the mirror, she deemed herself ready and moved to her closet to get dressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, be honest, who really thought Marinette believed Chloe? Who was screaming at their screens that Chloe was lying? Our girl even fooled her Kwami! Fantastic!
> 
> As for chapter 13, we'll conclude what happens with the plan for revenge on Chloe and show her for who she really is. Also, remember a few chapters ago when Alya saw that little Ladrien interaction? Yeah, our favorite reporter hasn't forgotten it (even if I did for a bit) so that shows up again. I'll post the next chapter in a few days, probably between Wed and Fri. I promise, we'll finish this up soon, but probably not until we hit at least 15 chapters! (probably more, to be honest)
> 
> See you in the next one!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan Adrien and Mari concocted goes off without a hitch, but the couple hits a new snag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! As promised, here is a new chapter for your reading pleasure! I loved writing this one and I am so back on task with this story that I am preparing to write chapter 16! Man didn't expect it to get this big! Welp, enjoy and see you in the notes!

Marinette drug herself into class that day, glanced at the empty seat that was Adrien’s and carefully walked past it and her usual seat to her old seat beside Alya. Her best friend knew immediately that Marinette was still upset about yesterday, and she placed a hand on her friend’s sagging shoulder in a show of comfort.

“Did you ever talk to Adrien about the picture?” she asked, helpfully.

“Ye-yeah, I did. He apologized for doing it, for cheating but...I just can’t forgive him, you know? I mean, Chloe of all people? He said it was a moment of weakness because he was jealous of Luka and-- and,” Marinette stuttered, covering her face with her hands.

“He was jealous so he actually kissed Chloe?! What kind of reasoning was that?!” Alya shrieked, glancing down to Nino who just shrugged from his old seat. Seemed he hadn’t been able to get anything further out of the model, either.

Just then, Adrien walked into the classroom and all eyes turned on him. His shirt wasn’t tucked in, his pants were wrinkled, his hair hung limply around his face. Overall, he looked horrible much to Chloe’s shock. He surveyed the classroom, spotting Marinette and quickly avoiding eye contact before setting his sights on Chloe. A panicked look crossing his face as he rushed over to Chloe while everyone, even Mari who peeked through her fingers, watched.

“Chloe! Tell them everything! Tell Marinette it was an accident!” He begged, falling to his knees before Chloe.

“Adrikins, I don’t understand what you-” Chloe tried to feign innocence.

“I don’t totally remember what happened, but you showed up and then we were kissing. Please, whatever I said to lead you on, I’m sorry but I’m begging you. Tell Mari it was an accident! Tell everyone!” Adrien was acting visibly upset as he motioned to the entire class. Marinette saw her chance to step in.

“Adrien Agreste! It takes two to tango and you told me you kissed her back! Don’t lie and hurt me more!” she said as she stood up, stomping her foot in anger. Adrien glanced at her and it was the first time they had really seen each other in their disheveled state. Marinette hid her shock with her hand over her mouth while Adrien used his own raised eyebrows to his advantage. He literally crawled on the floor to Marinette’s feet and she had to bite her tongue not to laugh.

“Mari, Princess, please! I didn’t mean it, really!” he begged at her feet. It nearly broke her heart, so she used it.

“I--I can’t believe you, Adrien. I just--I just can’t!” She covered her face again and sat heavily down in her seat. Adrien stood up, about to say more but Alya, being the good best friend she was, leaned over Mari and practically growled at the model.

“Get lost, player! Cheater! You’ve hurt her enough!” she sneered, just as Ms. Bustier walked into class.

“Everyone, to your seats. It’s time for class,” she said, oblivious to the situation at hand.

“Ms. Bustier, can I take Marinette to the bathroom? She’d suddenly feeling sick and fears she might throw up!” Alya said the last bit as she glared at Adrien. He feared that, once things came to light, she still might glare at him for a while.

“Is Marinette still not feeling well from her injury? Does she need to go home?” Ms. Bustier, with genuine concern, offered.

“No, I’ll be alright, I just need to splash some water on my face,” Marinette said, weakly.

“Alright. Alya go with her to make sure she makes it alright. As for everyone else, turn to page 62.”

Once in the bathroom, Alya brought Marinette to the sink to wash her face. Marinette looked at herself in the mirror. Her waterproof makeup was still in place, which she was happy with, but something else was out of her control. Alya.

“Alya, I have to tell you something.”

“Anything girl and trust me, Adrien won’t be getting near you again. That two-timing loser!” Alya held her hand up in a fist.

“It’s not that, listen. I did talk to Adrien last night and here’s what he told me happened. Chloe went to go visit Adrien after seeing him avoiding me. When he told her that he still loved me and she had no chance, she must have done something to his drink because when he woke up, she was gone. He thinks his father may have set it up since he is trying to separate Adrien and I. So, we are trying to trick Chloe. Please don’t really be mad at Adrien!” She spoke everything in a rush. She felt bad about lying to Alya, but she couldn’t admit everything.

“So, that picture…” Alya said, her reporter mind working.

“Was taken without Adrien’s knowledge? Yes!” Marinette exclaimed.

 

“I thought his arms looked a bit weird. My first thought was that she combined several images in Photoshop, but drugging him? That’s low, even for her!” Alya’s eyes narrowed to mere slits. This was deserved for everything Chloe had done. Add in the fact that she did technically drug Adrien and this plan was going to go off without a hitch.

“Just play along, okay?” she asked her darker best friend. Alya placed a hand on Mari’s shoulder.

“Of course, what are BFFs for? We’ll get Chloe back. So, what is the plan?”

Marinette quickly filled her in on the details of their plan, and Alya agreed to be there to support her if she needed it. Mari and Adrien had it handled, but with Alya’s help, it’ll look more believable. They went back to class, playing their expected roles. Adrien still snuck glances at Mari behind him, as he had been told to do. Every time she caught him, she looked away quickly. Sometimes Alya would reach over and touch her arm, in an effort to offer her friend support. One time, Mari winked at Adrien, which he took to mean that Alya was in on it.

This continued throughout the school day, even during lunch since Adrien had begged his driver, in front of the school no less, to let him stay. He ignored his phone as he tried again, in vain, to get Marinette to forgive him and pleaded with Chloe to admit what she did wrong. By the time school ended, the entire class was offering words of comfort to Marinette and glaring at Adrien and Chloe. Even Sabrina, usually always on the side of her best friend, stood a bit away from Chloe. All at once, Chloe realized her major flaw.

Everyone loved Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

As Alya was walking with Marinette down the school’s front entrance, arm around her shoulders as Mari “cried”, Chloe’s resolve was cracking. She walked with purpose to the front of the building, between Adrien’s ride and the school.

“Alright, I’ve had enough! None of you really know what happened!” Chloe said, meeting the eyes of nearly everyone before her.

“We know exactly what happened, Chloe. You were mean and hateful as usual and broke up a perfectly happy couple!” Alya shouted, still trying to lead her friend away, But Mari had stopped to turn towards Chloe.

“No, you hack reporter! You’ve got your facts all wrong! Dupain-Cheng doesn’t deserve Adrien, I do! His father even promised to work everything out with Daddy if I helped him!” Chloe shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. She covered her mouth. “Oops,” she whispered.

“Wait, Chloe, what do you mean? Do you mean that picture was fake?” Mari asked, straightening up just a little. 

“Well, I mean. Uh….” Chloe knew if she said she used magic, no one would believe her. “Of course not! It’s not edited or anything!”

“Then, what did happen? I don’t remember anything!” Adrien said arms spread wide. Chloe bit her lip, glancing around trying to find her ride. It had just pulled up and she ran to it, her classmates angrily chasing her. She dove for the seat, grabbed the tiny box that rested there as she had requested before school and flipped it open. Blinding golden light spread from the open limo door as Pollen appeared.

“Yes, My Queen?” Pollen said causing all behind her to uncover their eyes and stare.

“I used her! Ladybug gave me a Miraculous!” Chloe shouted. Fitting the comb into her hair she transformed and shouted, “Venom!” and stung Kim. Everyone backed away from Chloe, giving her enough space to use her top to zip away. Alya gaped next to her best friend. Kim was frozen in place, no one could move him.

“That! That’s what she must have done to me! Mari, please believe me now!” Adrien turned to his girlfriend who was walking over to them again.

“Kim,” she said once she reached the paralyzed boy. She waved her hand in front of his face, only to get no reaction from him. She turned to Adrien, hands together in a pleading motion. “Adrien I--” her eyes softened when she looked at him. His hair was so messy, and he looked so much like Chat Noir that she threw her arms around him. “I forgive you, my ch--ah-Adrien! I forgive you.”

The whole class cheered as the couple embraced while Adrien squeezed Marinette tightly.

“You almost slipped, Princess,” he spoke softly enough that no one would hear him over their own cheers.

“Sorry, but your hair gives you away. You’re usually so purrfect, Adrien,” she said just as softly. He had to cover his shock with a cough. 

Alya, while happy for her friend, just glared at Adrien. She took out her phone and pulled up the image of Adrien and Ladybug she had taken on the Eiffel Tower over the weekend. She had recorded it too, but their words were muffled by wind or something so the picture was the best evidence she had. The image of him kissing Chloe may have been fake, but this one wasn’t and she thought now was a good as time as ever to reveal what Mr. Perfect Model was really like.

After Marinette separated from Adrien, Alya made her way over to her friend.

“Hey Mari, glad you and Adrien made up, but I gotta show you something. Can I come over and hang out in a bit? I gotta talk to Adrien first,” Alya said, throwing her arm around her friend’s shoulder first.

“Sure Alya, I’ll just be doing my homework in my room. See you tomorrow Adrien!” Marinette waved before she ran to the bakery to wash off the makeup. 

Alya took her chance and grabbed Adrien’s hand, dragging him to the shadowed side of the school.

“Woah, Alya easy! I know Mari told you about the plan, but I’m still recovering from her actually believing me,” Adrien said. Alya turned on him, eyes just as dark and scary as they had been before.

“Alright Mr. Model, you have two seconds to explain this image before I show it to Marinette!” Alya shouted, turning her phone around and pushing it into Adrien’s face. His eyes widened when he saw what was there, backing up against the school building much like Marinette had done yesterday. 

“I--I don’t know what you mean?” he lied.

“Don’t play dumb! I follow Ladybug and Chat Noir everywhere, and no purified people or others affected by the Akuma have that kind of look! They are either confused or scared. Tell me, Adrien Agreste, does that smile look confused or scared?!” she snapped at him. Now he understood better than he ever had about why Bugaboo was worried about crossing identity lines.

“Alya, I don’t know what you are thinking is going on there, but I was just happy she saved me from being a glitter statue,” he said. It wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

“Wrong answer. Guess Mari will just have to get her heart broken all over again. Sorry, I thought you were good for her, too,” Alya looked genuinely sad for a moment as she turned back toward the bakery. Adrien knew he had to do something to protect his Princess.

“Wait!” he called out. Alya turned around, crossing her arms in front of her as he sighed heavily. With seemingly great effort, he looked at the reporter with sadness in his eyes. “Okay, I admit it. I had a massive crush on Ladybug and when I saw her again… Even though I’m with Mari, I’m always happy when she saves me. Who wouldn’t, right? You’ve been saved by her before, you understand, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I get being grateful, but this isn't gratitude! This look in your eyes, that’s almost normal for a crush. I’d know, I’ve seen Marinette have googly eyes for you tons of times. But Look at Ladybug.” 

When he did, he realized what she really meant. Sure, love was in his eyes as he had said, but Ladybug… her’s were different. Playful, flirty, happiness at seeing him and something else. A little off. Alya must have taken this shortly after Ladybug hit her head, so she wasn’t thinking clearly and the reporter of the Ladyblog mistook Ladybug’s face for love. Maybe she didn’t mistake anything, maybe Marinette forgot herself in her injured state. He couldn’t say anything that would give Marinette away, so he sagged as if Alya had defeated him.

“That’s what I thought. I’m going to show this picture to Marinette right now. She needs to know just who she is dating.” Alya had turned and started to walk away when Adrien’s voice called out again.

“Do you really want to hurt her again?” Alya paused but didn’t turn around. “You are her best friend, Alya. She just went through this whole thing with Chloe and you wanna go throw this at her now? Can you at least wait to show her the picture? Or let me come too, so I can explain?”

“Explain how for the last two months you’ve been cheating on her with Ladybug, Chat Noir?” Alya said from over her shoulder. Adrien was dumbstruck. “Yeah, I heard what the two of you said. I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure you are the black cat by what Ladybug said. Good luck explaining that to my BFF. I won’t post about your identity on the Ladyblog without more proof, but know that I’m watching you, alley cat!” With that, she walked across the street and to the bakery’s front door, before her phone chimed. With a groan, Alya looked at it and, with a heavy sigh, looked back across the street where Adrien leaned against the school building for support.

“I’ll give you until tomorrow afternoon, tomcat. I have to go babysit my little sisters, stupid Mayor and his last minute parties. You better explain yourself by then or I show Marinette the picture. I care about my friend too much to have her be hurt anymore. She’s… she’s done a lot for me,” her voice trailed off as she looked away from Adrien. He knew more than anything how much his girlfriend did for everyone, including himself.

Without another word, Alya turned and walked away from the front of the bakery, typing on her phone as she did. Adrien got his own phone out, spurred on by the hope that he had until tomorrow to make up some excuse or explanation about the picture, and sent a text to his father.

**[Going to my girlfriend’s house. Tell Gorilla that I won’t be needing him right now. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to go home. Your plan didn’t work, and it never will.]**

Without waiting for a response, and rushed over to the bakery and walked inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, Alya! Why you gotta do that? So, you guys remember back in my version of Style Queen? Ladybug hit her head and got a concussion? Poor Mari was feeling dizzy and off balance, so she slipped up and nearly admitted that Adrien was Chat Noir! I know, I wrote it carefully to cover it saying "Don't worry, Chat will be able to help me fight next time" or something similar. So, Alya put two and two together and assumed Adrien was Chat Noir! I mean, she's not wrong, but now our heroes have to fix this. That happened over the next 2 chapters. 
> 
> See you in them! Bug out!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien visits Marinette after his encounter with Alya, and they hatch a plan to keep their identities secret. He discovers a secret about Mari and the depth of her (former) obsession with him while he gets multiple phone called from home, which he ignores. Gabriel/Hawkmoth, knowing his son is ignoring him, starts to hatch a plan to "fix" his problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright everyone, here we are at another chapter! I just wanted to say I never had any idea this fic would get this long but my goodness has it been fun! Don't worry, it's gonna continue for a bit more and (probably) have a happy ending, but I just keep thinking about things to put this two into and it's amazing!
> 
> I have the next chapter written and but I'm gonna wait a bit before posting it. I wanna try and keep it to a 2 chapters a week thing and stay at least 1 or 2 ahead. Well, I won't hold you up any longer, so enjoy the chapter!

Marinette was expecting Alya to walk into her bedroom, so she was surprised when Adrien poked his head up. She was just sitting at her desk sketching and ogling her Adrien desktop background when the hatch swung fully open and smacked against the floor, causing her to mess up her current drawing.

“Alya! What the heck was--” she cut herself off as she stared into her green-eyed boyfriend’s face. She felt the heat creep up her cheeks as she realized she wasn’t prepared for him. Since they started dating and he began visiting at night, she had relocated all of her pictures of Adrien from around her bed to around her computer and desk. When she knew he was coming, she would put most of them away and only keep ones they had taken together from their cell phones she had printed out. She didn’t have the heart to throw all the images from magazine clippings and pin-ups she had of Adrien from his cologne ads, so whenever he left she hung them back up.

She watched as Adrien’s face fell, looking at images of himself spread all over her walls under her loft. She felt the heat in her face spread down her neck as she sat, unmoving, in front of her favorite desktop image, a hastily photoshopped compilation of his best shots. She’d added one to the collage, the one that started to make her suspect Adrien was Chat Noir. That image was from the summer fun edition of a magazine a few months ago, Adrien’s hair was wet from water and he was wearing only a pair of swim trunks.

“Marinette, I-” was all he could say for a long time.

“I can explain!” she finally blurted. She grabbed her sketchbook and attempted to hide behind it. Herself and the quickly spreading blush. 

“You don’t have to explain, I’m the one who should be explaining,” Adrien said, keeping his composure. She peeked around her sketchbook barrier to eye her boyfriend carefully. He had just bent over to close her hatch again, giving her a nice look at the fit of his jeans. She could have sworn she smelled the smoke coming from her ears. He turned back to her, ignoring her red hot face and continued. “I sent you a text, did you get it?”

Confused, she lowered the sketchbook a bit and just stared at him. He motioned toward the phone he still had in his hand and she quickly dropped the sketchbook and flailed around until she grabbed her phone. He tried to hide his soft giggle at her utter embarrassment as she navigates to her missed message. All blood rushed from her face as she read the text.

“‘Alya has a picture of Ladybug and Adrien on the top of the Eiffel Tower.’ What do you mean?” she asked, even though she expected she knew what he meant.

“From the fashion show,” was all the explanation he gave. The show he’d been turned into a statue. The day she had gotten her concussion. 

“How bad is it?” she asked.

“I’d say it’s pretty bad. She suspects me as being Chat Noir, though she has no proof. She also thinks I’m cheating on you with Ladybug!” Adrien went to sit on her chaise, elbows on his knees and hanging his head. “I’m sorry Marinette. I know we are supposed to keep our identities secret, but I have no idea how we can get out of this one. Maybe we should just tell her and trust her to keep it off the Ladyblog. Is that too much to ask for?”

She needed time to think, to clear her head. She set her phone down on her desk again and, turning away from all the images of her boyfriend, she swiveled to face the real thing. Plagg had floated to sit on his chosen’s shoulder while Tikki landed gently on the other one. She loved her tiny friend, she always supported her when she was upset and she was glad that Tikki would do the same for Adrien. That spurred an idea in Marinette’s mind as her eyes trailed down to her boyfriend’s hand and the ring he wore.

Adrien heard more than saw Mari move, but he looked up just in time to see her walk over to him and take his hand. He felt his cheeks warm a little as she eyed the ring on his middle finger.

“Um, Mari?”

“I have an idea. It’s a bit crazy and a complete longshot, but it’s an idea.” He waited for her to continue and for her to release his hand. “I need to borrow your miraculous.”

“Wait, what?!” He asked, suddenly terrified.

“Just for a bit. Look, Alya thinks you are Chat Noir, right?” She waited for his nod before she said, “Well, we have to show her that she’s wrong. We have to let her see both Chat Noir and Adrien in the same spot like you tricked Ladybug with that crazy fan when your bodyguard got akumatized.”

“Okay, I’m starting to follow,” he said.

“So, tomorrow morning, I’ll transform into Chat Noir while you talk to Alya. That way she sees you and Chat at the same time,” she said, triumphantly placing her hands on her hips.

“But the picture, the look in mine and Ladybug’s eyes. She could see the love in them, how do we explain that?”

Marinette’s blush returned a bit as she thought. “I’ll have to transform into Ladybug at some point after school and talk to her. Explain that I, Ladybug, am madly in love with my Kitty and have no romantic feelings for the model, Adrien. Maybe just a little crush because, who wouldn’t have just the slightest bit of a crush on Paris’ favorite teen heartthrob model, right?” she laughed nervously and covered her mouth at his cocky grin.

“‘Teen heartthrob model,’ huh? Heh heh, I know one particular girl who has stolen this heartthrob’s heart,” he said around his flirty smile. He scooped up her hand and brought it to his lips in a tender kiss. She bit her lip, her blush heating up a few degrees.

“Well, th-that’s my plan. Think you can manage it?” she asked as she attempted to quiet her fastly beating heart.

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem. I’m gonna miss Plagg a bit. We haven’t been separated since he first appeared,” he admitted. 

“If Marinette is alright with it, I’d be happy to go with you for a bit. Just, don’t tell the Master. He may not be very happy with this switch,” Tikki offered.

“I don’t know. What if there is an Akuma? Adrien doesn’t have pierced ears, so he wouldn’t be able to transform and I don’t know if I’d be able to get them back in time.”

“Actually, I do have my ears pierced I just don’t wear anything in them.” At this revelation, Marinette gaped at him. She stammered for a while before she finally quieted and he continued speaking. “You see, a few years ago, before my mother was presumed dead, she took me to get my ears pierced. I’d asked for it and I wasn’t very popular in modeling yet, so she said it was fine. After we got back home with the silver studs in both my ears, my father freaked out. They fought over it all night long but she finally convinced him to let me keep them. They are so small that they can be hidden with concealer, and I sometimes wear clear studs to bed so the holes don’t close up. It’s kinda like another act of defiance to my father, keeping them now.”

“Really? You really have pierced ears?” She couldn’t believe it. She leaned over her still seated boyfriend, bringing her face inches from him as she stared at his ears. Sure enough, there was a tiny hole in his left ear, just big enough for an earring. She leaned away quickly and rushed over to her desk. “Nowhere in any magazine interview did you ever mention you have pierced ears!” She opened a drawer and pulled out several magazines he’d done interviews in, flipping through the pages frantically. He chuckled.

“Of course not. My father never wanted them so I have to hide them, even from him. Actually, you’re kinda the only person I’ve told since my mother’s passing,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. After hearing him admit that to her, she put all the magazines she had in her lap into her trashcan and walked back over to sit beside him. He looked at her as she rested a hand on his shoulder and just smiled sweetly at him.

“I feel a little honored that you would share that with me,” she admitted, blushing. With a shake of her head, she continued, “Okay. So we should be fine to switch miraculouses and not have any problems. If something happens, you know the words, right?”

“Transform me, right?” he asked Tikki.

“Yep!” she confirmed with a happy chirp.

“Great! Plagg, be good for Marinette. He likes camembert cheese, but you know that already, so I’ll leave a wheel of it here for you,” he said as he dug into his school bag.

“Okay, well Tikki likes sweets and from the sounds of it, you don’t have a lot of them, right?” she asked. At the shaking of his head, she went to her bag and grabbed a couple of chocolate chip cookies and handed them to Adrien, which he slid into his school bag side pocket. Once she sat back down, she reached up to remove one of her earrings and paused. “Will you vanish if I take them off like last time, Tikki?”

“Only if you renounce me first, Marinette,” Tikki said.

“Renounce you?”

“Yes. The last time, you said you didn't want to be Ladybug and almost gave the miraculous to Alya. You, basically, gave me up so I had to return to the earrings which I am bound to until summoned again.”

As she spoke, Marinette could hear the sadness in the tiny god’s voice as she floated in front of them. She regretted the action now, but couldn’t change the past.

“I’m so sorry I hurt you Tikki,” Marinette said.

“Wait, you almost gave the miraculous up? Is that why you waited so long to help me with Stoneheart?” Adrien looked like he couldn’t believe the words he just said. Marinette just nodded until she felt her voice steady enough to answer.

“I did. After I found out I messed up, I pretty much said I didn’t want to be Ladybug because I just knew I’d mess up again and again. I didn’t think a simple girl like me deserved to be a superhero.” Remembering the incident last year made her sad all over again, causing her to re-think everything that had happened until now. “Maybe I was right, I mean look the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

“Marinette,” Adrien said, voice firm. She knew that tone and turned her head a bit to look at him.

“You are amazing but imperfect. Beautiful, but flawed. Kind and generous, but sometimes let your emotions get the better of you.”

“You not helping me-”

“But-” he cut her off, placing a finger over her lips. “No one is perfect. We are all flawed and sometimes our emotions overwhelm us. I was so blinded by Ladybug that I couldn’t see the girl right beside me for so long. So if you don't deserve to be Ladybug, I guess I don’t deserve to be Chat Noir.”

“But you’re amazing as Chat Noir! I can’t-” she paused, then finished with, “I can’t imagine anyone else being my partner than you.”

Adrien smiled, “Me either, Bugaboo. Me either. I glad you decided to stay My Lady.”

Marinette smiled, happiness threatening to leak from her eyes and run down her cheeks as she threw herself into her boyfriend’s arms. He hugged her back for a while before his phone went off. He’d set it to vibrate and managed to ignore it as he squeezed his girlfriend tighter.

“Shouldn’t you answer that?” she asked.

“Nope. Whoever it is, it isn’t as important as showing you how important you are to me.” She smiled again, burying her face back into his chest as he heart swelled.

**********************************

“Sir, he didn't answer his phone. Perhaps it’s on vibrate,” Nathalie suggested. Gabriel Agreste had just finished reading the slew of messages he’d gotten from Ms. Bourgeois regarding her failure to separate his son from Marinette.

“He will have to be punished for missing his Chinese lesson. I think I know just how to go about doing that. I sense the dark emotions of someone I have met before. The need to protect her friend from someone who she distrusts, I just need to wait a bit until the emotions are a bit stronger. Then, I will give her the power to keep her friend safe from a fate worse than death, a broken heart.”

Gabriel laughed wickedly as he stood before his usually hidden attic room, the setting sun turning the wings of his many white butterflies hues of orange and red. Nathalie stood before him, her heart breaking for both Adrien and her boss at the same time. She’d come to love Gabriel, nearly to the point of confessing, but her restraint wouldn’t let her. She had swore to help him awaken his wife, Emilie, and she would keep to that promise, no matter how much it hurt her in the end. Maybe she would be forced to leave if she couldn’t stand to see them happily together.

But then her thoughts turned to Adrien. She had, effectively, become his only mother figure after Emilie went into her coma caused by the peacock miraculous. Since then, she had slowly grown an attachment for the young teen but forced herself to be impartial most of the time. If Emilie were eventually awoken, would he be enough of a reason to stay employed? Would she be able to continue for him? She put the thoughts and worries aside. They would be a problem when the time comes, but for now, she simply dialed Adrien’s phone again, hoping he’d pick up this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now wasn't that ominous? What is Gabe gonna do? Is he gonna try and use Alya to get Mari away from his son? Will their plan go off without a hitch? Is this finally the part where the Kwami-swap happens?! Guess you'll have to wait till the next chapter.
> 
> To go on a bit of a side note, I am still working on my original works along with this, so if I ever don't post for a while assume I'm doing that. But that brings up a good question: Would you guys want to know in a separate chapter when I won't be posting for a while? I've seen some content creators do that before, but I never thought of doing that myself. Would you rather just read the story and keep my personal updates in notes like this or comments on chapters, or my write a little chapter about why I wouldn't be updating for a while?


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duo set their plan into motion to trick Alya into thinking Adrien is not Chat Noir. It started with a simple Kwami swap but changed into a full-blown battle as an Akuma attack began causing havoc. Marinette and Adrien are unable to switch back, so they work together to defeat the Akuma. Plagg realizes he's picked up a few fashion tips from his chosen and regrets it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Here we go again, another chapter of this story that was NEVER meant to get this big! I'm several chapters ahead right now, so that's a good thing. But being so far ahead, I'm approaching where this story is going to end. Don't worry, you have lots of drama coming up so don't miss it! 
> 
> Now, on with the chapter!

The next morning, Marinette sat up in bed and heard the quiet snoring of a Kwami. She looked around, wondering when Tikki had started to snore and why her alarm hadn’t gotten her up. Looking over to her tiny friend’s bed reminded her exactly why she heard snoring. 

Plagg slept soundly in Tikki’s bed, snoring softly. She had completely forgotten about the swap and smiled, gently poking the little black cat. He barely opened one bright, green eye before rolling back over mumbling about needing more sleep. She giggled and decided to get herself ready for school.

Adrien had warned her to keep her phone down by her computer instead of near her bed, as Plagg had a bad habit of shutting off the alarm. Sure enough, when she went down she saw that the alarm was shut off and she had exactly fifteen minutes to get dressed, brush her teeth and hair before transforming in order for the plan to work. She squealed loudly enough for the little black god to startle awake.

“Wha-what?! I didn't eat all the cheese, I swear Adrien!” Plagg said as he zoomed up and phased through the hatch that opened to her balcony. Mari watched as he quietly phased back through the hatch and over to her. “Oh, it's you.”

“Yes! And my alarm is off. We had a plan, Plagg!” she screeched.

“Yeah? Well I have a plan too, sleep in as long as possible,” he responded around a yawn.

“Plagg! How am I gonna get ready this quickly?!” she asked as she dashed around her room.

“Just wear whatever you want, here,” he said as he floated over to her closet. He tossed out a pair rolled-cuff blue jean shorts, a tank top with the same design as her favorite shirt before zooming over to her dresser and selecting a couple of bangle bracelets. Marinette watched him as he gathered the items, surprised he was doing such a thing. “Here, wear this.”

“Um, why?” was all she could think to ask.

“The colors of the bracelets match your outfit, and are simple enough to catch the eye but only a bit. Trust me, Adrien will be watching your legs since he’s a leg guy. And jeans go with pretty much everything.” Once Plagg finished, he blinked and groaned. “I’ve been around that dorky model for so long I must have picked up his quirks! Oh no!” he exclaimed as he flung himself into the little bag Tikki normally hid in.

Marinette laughed even had her cheeks heated. So, Adrien liked legs, huh?

“Thanks Plagg!” She only got a pained groan in response as she quickly got dressed and rushed downstairs to grab breakfast. After her usual morning greeting to her parents, she went out the side door to be out of sight of them for when she inevitably transformed into Chat. 

Eating quickly, she looked around to check if anyone was watching her. Pulling out her phone, she texted Adrien to check his ETA before texting Alya to say she had overslept and was probably going to be late. It was the end of the week, so this was not a surprise. Marinette heard back from Alya first, saying she needed to speak with her before class and to hurry up.

“Not gonna happen, Alya. Sorry,” she apologized to no one as she heard her phone go off again. She checked it, seeing that Adrien had responded.

**[About two minutes away. Tikki got me up on time and I managed to make it a relaxed morning.]**

At least he was having a good morning. She opened her bag to see Plagg wrapped around a piece of smelly cheese.

“Eew, I’m gonna have to wash my bag before Tikki gets back in there,” she said, holding the bag with the Kwami inside away from her nose.

“Hello beautiful,” Plagg said to the cheese before consuming it in one bite. Marinette shook her head and peaked around the bakery to see Adrien’s car pulling up. She watched him get out and wave to Nino and Alya on the school steps.

“Alright Plagg, ready?” she asked as she looked down at him.

“Not really, but do I have a choice?” he responded, only half kidding.

“I don't think so, I’m afraid. Sorry. Plagg, transform me!” She called, holding her hand out like Adrien had told her. The magic felt different and similar at the same time as it wrapped around her. She felt the cat ears form on her head, the weight of the belt around her waist and the pole at her back. She realized too late that she would have to make this as natural as possible, and she was used to swinging from place to place and not pole vaulting. She would have to wing it and take confidence in her ability to pull this off.

Grabbing the extending pole behind her back, she flipped it open and turned on the camera. She saw her eyes completely green, admittedly unsettling, and her cat ears had bows. Her hair was not in her pigtails, but a single ponytail with a flowing green ribbon holding it out of her face. Hopefully, Alya didn’t analyze her too closely. Her outfit, while similar to Chat’s, had seams of green around her gloves and heeled boots. Great, I have to run along rooftops in heels! she thought.

Testing the pole once more she figured out how to work it quickly, extending it in the direction she wanted and managed to reach her balcony without much issue. She had to get across the street but wanted to check and make sure Alya and Adrien were still outside to see her. She heard the first bell ring and saw students start going into the school and knew, ready or not, her time was up. She extended the pole again and vaulted against her roof, reaching the buildings across the street and cried out. She was starting to enjoy herself.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Adrien and Alya watching as she started to pull out her phone. Adrien said something and she looked over at him before putting it down again. A smile on her face, she saluted the pair of teens and ran along the rooftops until she was out of view. Jumping down into an alley, she detransformed and leaned against a building.

“Whew, think that worked?” she looked at Plagg as she spoke. The tiny cat floated near her, holding a fresh piece of camembert.

“Maybe. Probably, people are pretty blind. I mean, look at you two,” he said just before he popped the entire wedge of cheese into his mouth.

She sighed as she quickly made her way back towards the school and ran into the building. The final bell rang seconds before she reached her classroom. Her gaze traveled from the teacher in apology, to Alya and finally to Adrien where she froze mid-step.

His cheeks were red with a blush quickly spreading to his ears. His eyes were trained only on Marinette, well, on her exposed legs. She felt heat ease over her face as she went to take her seat beside Adrien today. After their apparent make-up yesterday, Nino went back to sit beside Alya instead of Adrien.

Marinette began setting up her school things, crossing her feet under the table and heard a choking sound beside her. She dared a glance at Adrien and instantly regretted it. He was covering his mouth and seemed to be trying to breathe normally, face very red. It reminded her of how she used to act and couldn't help but smile. He looked towards where she sat, eyes at her exposed skin before he snapped up to her face again with the blush still firmly in place. She knew she was still blushing, but seeing him this flustered made her relax a bit more. She looked forward as their teacher began talking.

After a little while, Mari felt her phone vibrate in her purse and the quiet groan of Plagg. The phone must have disturbed him, so she quickly retrieved it and placed it in her lap only for it to go off again, causing her eyes to glance down at the phone. [Two new text messages] her screen read. She quickly swiped to wake her phone up while still pretending to listen to her teacher.

 **[OMG girl, I saw Chat Noir this morning. You totally missed it. Tell you all about it later.]** She smiled to herself. Adrien would be happy that their plan worked. She went to the other message. It was from Adrien.

 **[Mari, why are you wearing that?]** It was a simple question, but it had a difficult answer. She could just tell him that she felt like it, or she could come clean and admit the truth. Which would be the better option? With a little smirk, she quickly sent a text back whenever the teacher was not looking her way.

In Adrien’s lap, his phone plinged softly. A message from Marinette. He swallowed and went to the new message. **[Well, I felt like a little change. A certain black cat told me something very interesting about my boyfriend.]** He was going to kill Plagg when he got home tonight. He dared another glance over at Marinette, only to cause his blush to flare up again. Her hand was resting on her exposed thigh and it made him wonder how soft the skin was there. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye, and he quickly redirected his sight forward again. He had to focus on school and not how good his girlfriend looked in such short, tight shorts. He swallowed hard again.

The lunch bell finally rang, and Adrien couldn’t get up and out fast enough. He was much too polite to ask to leave during class unless he had to, and the slight discomfort he was starting to feel was not urgent enough to make him ask. Alya caught his hand before he rushed off, pulling him to a stop. Hesitantly he turned towards her, hoping his cheeks weren't as red as they felt.

“Hey, um… I wanted to apologize. After seeing Chat and you this morning, I guess I jumped the gun. Sorry,” she said, not quite looking at him. He gave a light sigh and stood up straighter.

“It’s fine. I forgive you, and thanks for not worrying Mari without needing to.” 

Alya nodded and went to join Nino so they could have lunch together. Adrien likes seeing his best friend and Mari’s best friend dating. It made him think that maybe they should double date one day if he could ever get his father to let him. 

Just as he was reaching the door, someone else caught his hand and pressed themselves against his side. He stiffened and looked at who had just walked up to him. Marinette smiled at him, pressing her nearly naked leg against his while Chloe huffed as she walked past them.

“So, Alya told me she saw Chat Noir today, did you?” Marinette said in such an openly flirty way he nearly melted.

“Yep! I sure did,” he stammered out. She giggled and smiled, pulling a bit away from him as she walked with him towards the front of the school.

“Sorry, Adrien. Take this as all those times you’ve flirted with me, Kitty,” she said softly. Now this, he could handle. As long as he didn’t look at her beautiful, soft-looking legs. He cleared his throat.

“Oh really? Well then, My Lady, you have a lot more to make up for.” Why did he say that? Could he handle more? She raised an eyebrow at him and he regretted his words.

“Hmm, I suppose you are right. Guess I’ll have to pay you back a bit more before we are truly even.” She still held his hand as they walked down the stairs towards the entrance while she let their linked hands sway carelessly together. In a simple motion, she interlocked their fingers and swung her arm a little closer to her body, causing Adrien’s knuckles to brush along her legs. He nearly fell down the last few steps but caught himself at the last second. 

She couldn't fight the chuckle that escaped her throat even as her cheeks darkened. It was a rare sight to see Adrien this flustered and she had to admit, she was enjoying it.

Her enjoyment was not to last as an explosion shook the entire building. Adrien's first reaction was to wrap his arms around Marinette’s head, protecting her above all else. Dust drifted down from the rafters of the school, scattering all around the floor and the students still in the courtyard. Once the rumbling stopped, Adrien released Marinette a little to look around. They were close enough to the doors to see the Akuma victim from inside.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir! Give me your miraculous so Hawkmoth can grant me dearest wish!”

The couple huddled near the door, looked at each other and both nodded as they ran towards the locker room. Once they checked if they were alone, Adrien reached into in pocket to retrieve Marinette’s earrings when another blast sounded, shaking the building again.

“Here, take your earrings!” Adrien insisted.

“There’s no time! I have to go out there,” Mari said as she held out her hand. “See you outside, My Lord. Plagg, transform me!” With a shout of surprise, Plagg was sucked into the ring and Adrien witnessed his girlfriend transform into Chat Noir. Or, he supposed, Kitten Noir.

He fumbled with the earrings for only a moment before he shouted, “Tikki, transform me!” 

Marinette paused for only a moment to watch her boyfriend be covered in her spots before running out to distract the Akuma while Adrien got used to her powers. She was quickly getting the hang of his as she started to run on all fours along the school’s roof.

“Hey, why don’t we just cool off a bit and chat,” she called loudly to the Akuma. This got his attention.

“No way, just give me your miraculous!” the Akuma shouted back, aiming what appeared to be a broom at Marinette. “I am The Duster, and I’m gonna remove Paris’ superheroes one at a time! Dust bunnies, take her miraculous!” From the end of the broom, several grey masses of dust shaped like rabbits started hopping along towards Mari. As she deftly avoided them or smacked them with Chat’s pole, she saw the purple outline appear around The Cleaner’s eyes. Hawkmoth was talking to the poor akumatized victim.

“Hey, Hawkmoth! Why don’t you come and face me yourself one day? Maybe then you’ll actually get what you want!” She couldn’t hear his response, but saw the victim get angry.

“They switched? How is that even possible?” The Cleaner said.

“Welcome to a new world as you know it! I go by Kitten Noir, and my partner will be along shortly!”

“Correction, Kitten, I’m already here. Lordbug, at your service,” Adrien said as he landed nearby Marinette. She had to admit, he looked good in polka dots.

“Kitten Noir and Lordbug, give me your miraculous or I’m going to cover the entire city of Paris in dust and trash! Dust Bunnies, go!” Smacking his broom against the roof they stood on created several more grey bunnies and it took everything the heroes had to keep them at bay.

“My Lord, I think it might be time for a little luck!” Kitten said as she smacked away one more dust bunny.

“I hope I’m as lucky as My Lady, Kitten! Lucky Charm!” Lordbug shouted as he threw his yo-yo into the air. From the magic appeared a bellows.

“I finally get a chance at saying this!” Kitten whispered. Louder, she said, “What are you gonna do with that? Blow me away, My Lord, or maybe stoke my fire?” Realizing how that sounded, she blushed hotly, saying, “I mean-uh-”

“Heh, maybe later Kitten. Right now we have to get this short stack out of the way, maybe you can lead him around some other stacks for me?” Lordbug motioned to the bellows in his hand while Kitten Noir nodded and glanced around.

After finding her target, she called out, “Think your little bunnies scare me? I’ll hunt down every one of them!” She rushed toward the Akuma, seemingly ready to tackle him to the ground. The victim brandished his broom and swung at her, which she easily dodged, sliding between his legs and running behind him. Lordbug saw the purple outline of Hawkmoth and knew he was communicating with the Akuma, so he took his chance.

He got into place in front of a collection of smokestacks and waited for Kitten to get the Akuma into position. When the man started to work himself away from Kitten, it was up to him to get the Akuma back into place. Running up behind him, Lordbug swiped his yo-yo out, trying to trip the Akuma and failing. Even using the ladybug miraculous, he was still a bit unlucky. Mari wasn’t fairing much better. She wasn't as skilled in fencing as he was, so while fighting broom to pole, The Duster was too fast and hit her in the arm with the broom handle, covering her arm in thick dust. 

Kitten cried out as she cradled her arm to her. She seemed unable to use it, more from the weight of the dust covering it than actual injury. Lordbug breathed a sigh of relief until he saw that Duster was heading right for Mari. Now was the time, it had to be!

Lordbug rushed over, earrings beeping, found a set of smokestacks and said a quiet prayer this worked. Positioning the bellowed over one of the smokestacks he opened the bellows quickly, filling it up with smoke and soot. With the now open bellows full of a choking cloud, he wiped out his yo-yo again to circle around the broom. The Akuma had pulled the broom behind his head in an attempt to bring it down on Kitten’s head.

Rushing up to Duster, Lordbug got between him and Kitten, bellows aimed at the Akuma’s face.

“Time for a little light dusting!” Lordbug closed his eyes and squeezed the bellows together, a massive cloud of black smoke and soot blew right into his face. Blinded, Duster began coughing and trying to wipe at his eyes, taking several steps back and away from the heroes. “Kitten, use your powers!” he shouted behind him.

“R-right! Cataclysm!” Kitten shouted, holding out her now pulsing hand. She grabbed the broom and it disintegrated between her clawed fingers. Lordbug's body had blocked most of the smoke from her, so she was able to use her power easily.

Lordbug slide open the yo-yo like he had seen his Lady do so many times. After checking for the location of the purple butterfly, he swung out and captured it within the purifying light. Once the yo-yo returned, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Bye bye little butterfly,” he said as he released it again. Grabbing the discarded bellows again, he prepared to throw it up in the air but looked at Kitten. She smiled and nodded. He smiled too as he threw it into the air and shouted, “Miraculous Lordbug!” This activated the magic ladybugs as they swirled around fixing all that had been damaged by the Akuma, including Kitten Noir’s arm. She moved it gratefully.

“I’m surprised that worked,” she said as she walked over to him. They shared a quick hug before turning to the victim, looking very confused at the heroes.

“Um, what happened? Ladybug? I thought you were a girl,” he said. The heroes shared a quick smile before helping the man down to the ground and, after checking he was okay, bidding him farewell. 

Together, they found an alley away from sight as their transformations fell. Marinette checked her injured arm, seeing no signs of bruising. She sighed as Adrien put a hand on her shoulder. She was hyper-aware that, even transformed, she wasn’t invincible. They switched miraculous back and Tikki hugged Mari’s cheek.

“I missed you, Tikki!” she exclaimed as Adrien petted Plagg’s head.

“So, were you late today because of him?” Adrien asked. She nodded in response and he sighed. “Plagg, you knew we had a plan for this morning!”

“Well I was in the middle of a beautiful dream about camembert. What did you expect me to do?” Plagg asked as he refueled from his chosen’s pocket.

They ran back to the school, hand in hand and laughing together. They felt exhilarated, switching powers for the day. It was new and exciting and, most of it had been a little fun. But both teens agreed, they would stick to their own Kwamis from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you guys think of that swap? Pretty cool right?
> 
> I hope I wrote a good villain, even if the fight was short. I gave the kids a break, okay? And Adrien being a leg guy... I mean, he's a model so legs are important right? Sure, he loves Mari for Mari, but he has a thing for legs in my story, okay?!
> 
> Plagg was adorable and groan-worthy as I was writing him. He spoke for himself and I was his conduit, so blame him for everything he did.
> 
> I'll post the next chapter near the end of the week, so be ready for that. But for now, I'm off to finish this super long story and finally conclude "A Model Boyfriend." I may write a new "A Model" section in a few months, but not until I'm sure I have story to tell, so don't hold your horses for too long.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets, long hidden, are on the verge of being revealed by a brand new Akuma. Will Marinette and Chat noir be able to stop their secrets being outed to the whole of Paris?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I just wanted to say I have a lot of fun writing this chapter and the next couple following, writing them all within the span of 48 hrs. That being said, I have some bad news. 
> 
> If you are reading this, that means you care at least the tiniest about me and my well being. So I'm gonna tell you guys that the next couple of chapter, while I will try to get them out on the days that I plan to, may not happen. I broke my toe on my right foot, so everything is harder for me. I can't sit up for too long, walk too far, or stand for long periods. Leaving me pretty much stuck in certain positions for all hours of the day. I'll do my best to get the next chapters our over the next week as I do have 2 more ready for final proofreading and posting. That won't be a problem, but writing more will be a bit trickier.
> 
> Try not to let this news bother you too much and enjoy the chapter you have below. I'll see you in the end comments!

Several months pass as things return to normal. Alya has pretty much forgotten about the picture and fully supports Adrien and Marinette. Ladybug eventually retrieved the miraculous from Chloe and returned it to Master Fu only to let her use it again to defeat her father, the mayor. Neither superhero told Fu about the Kwami switch, so he remained unaware that the event had transpired. One person, however, did not forget about everything. 

Gabriel Agreste, after failing miserably at the hands of Ladybug and Chat Noir time and time again, still fumed. Even his most perfect plan, to akumatize the whole of Paris, had failed and it seemed his son was getting more and more attached to his “girlfriend”. He had to do something, and he had to do it fast before Adrien was any older and would wish to leave. He had to awaken Emilie before it was too late.

It occurred to Gabriel sometimes why he wished to prevent his son's happiness. He brushed such thoughts aside, believing he knew what was best for his son and that was not some girl, but his mother. A boy needs his mother in his life, not some fangirl who thought she loved him. Besides, if he was old enough to realize how much Gabriel needed Adrien for his company, things would not go well.

It was late when Marinette finally got home. She had been on a date with Adrien, so her parents didn’t mind her staying out past dark, but it left them a little behind for the next morning. So, being the good daughter she was, Marinette offered to help her parents with their prep in the bakery for the next morning. As she washed the dishes, she allowed her mind to wander to the upcoming events of the following week.

Adrien’s birthday was coming up and, if everything went according to plan, he would have an amazing party in the park near her house. It was gonna be a surprise party, so she had begged and pleaded with Adrien to talk to his father about letting him go on another “date” with her so soon. Seems Nathalie helped convince Gabriel, and he allowed the date. All of their friends were going to be there with presents for Adrien, but Marinette still had to make her own gift for him. She’d made a bunch for him already, but she wanted something special for his first actual party, but she had no ideas.

She continued to help her parents as, elsewhere, a plan was set into motion. The date Marinette and Adrien had been on caused them to walk right past Lila’s bedroom window. She saw them happy and in love and it made her sick. She was angry, jealous even, and wanted to get her love back on her side. The gentle flapping of wings went unnoticed by Lila as the butterfly landed on the flute in the girl’s hand. She took up the instrument after becoming Volpina and proved to be good at it. Anger and jealousy consumed her as the voice spoke inside her mind.

 _‘Volpina, you have failed me for the last time. I give you one final chance to claim the one you love. Do you accept my powers?’_ Hawkmoth’s voice echoed within her negative mind.

“Yes, Hawkmoth! Thank you for this new chance!” Lila felt the darkness fully cover her body as the suit formed. The fox ears and all, she was Volpina once again. She tightened her grip on her flute. “Adrien, I’ll get you all to myself now! Just you wait.”

 _‘No!’_ Hawkmoth said, tightening his grip on Volpina and her powers, causing the villain to fall to her knees as she caught her breath. _‘We do this my way, understand? I will remove your powers as I have done before should you not listen to me.’_

“Yes, Hawkmoth! Whatever you say!” she gasped out. She felt the hold he had on her ease and she inhaled sharply. “So, what is your plan then?”

 _‘First, we have to set the stage for this plan to work. I’ll need you to create an illusion for a certain blog reporter.’_ Hawkmoth, from his lair, laughed. Volpina agreed and took off to the Cesaire household. 

As Volpina made her way to the creator of the Ladyblog, he was confident this plan would go off without a hitch. He kept tabs on all of Adrien’s phone records and friends, so he knew all about the text messages his son and the baker’s daughter sent back a forth. Neither mentioned anything specific, but she would occasionally call him “Kitty”. The things people will say when they believe they aren’t being recorded. 

These two girls, Alya Cesaire and Lila Rossi, would be the perfect conduit for forcing his son away from dating the young designer. Making it look like he was cheating on her with the use of Chat Noir would be perfect. Alya would not be able to resist the chance to record the superhero.

Alya was preparing for bed when she looked outside and saw something. She wasn’t quite sure, but she thought it was Chat Noir with flowers. Rushing to her window, she slid it open and looked outside and, sure enough, Chat was running along the rooftops with a bouquet of flowers. Red roses at that. Grabbing her phone, she yelled to her sister that she was going out.

“Where ya going, little sis?” Nora asked from her spot on the living room floor, playing with the young twins.

“Just out, I’ll be back in five,” Alya said before quickly rushing out the door. She couldn’t miss a chance at catching Chat Noir alone. Maybe he was meeting Ladybug and she could capture their date on video for the Ladyblog.

Once on the street, a quick scan of the skies caused her to spot the superhero and his direction, so she followed with her phone at the ready. The area they were heading was known to her, but with her attention on Chat, she only made note of the crossings and red lights. It wasn’t until Chat landed on a particular balcony that she paused, out of breath, and realized what was going on. She was in front of the Dupain Bakery. The balcony was Marinette’s. Chat just landed on the railing and smiled at the waiting girl. Marinette was in her spotted pajamas with a wide grin on her face as Chat handed her the flowers. 

Alya had the presence of mind to start the recording at some point after her arrival as her eyes glanced down at the screen. The pair on the balcony talked for a bit before Chat started to lean down to her BFF, catching her lips in a kiss. Alya blushed hotly, from embarrassment and anger. Marinette was with Adrien, and Chat with Ladybug! What did they think they were--

Her thought unfinished as Chat Noir bid farewell with a wave and hopped down to the ground. Marinette went back into her bedroom with the flowers, so Alya followed Chat. She would deal with her friend tomorrow, but a sighting of Chat Noir alone like this was rare for her. Once he turned the corner between the bakery and the school, thinking he was safe, he said something she never thought she’d hear.

“Detransform me!” With a flash of magic, she was familiar with, Chat Noir detransformed into…

“Adrien Agreste,” Alya whispered. Adrien glanced behind him, seemingly hearing her, but she ducked into hiding quickly. She knew it! She said it months ago and she still had the image archived. Adrien was Chat Noir, and Marinette knew. She thought back to the day Adrien talked to her in front of the school, begging her not to tell Marinette and worry her. She was about to let him off the hook because honestly even she had a tiny crush on Ladybug when he motioned to across the street. There was Chat Noir, but he looked odd. Too thin in the shoulders and the chest was off somehow, almost feminine. Chat Noir was male, everyone knew that, but she let Adrien off for the sake of her friend. Now, things were different. From her hiding spot, Alya watched the video recording back on her phone, making sure she didn’t mistake something.

From a rooftop nearby, Volpina watched as pure glee filled her.

“It’s done, Hawkmoth. Now, I’ll go to Adrien and-”

 _‘No, you won’t. Your task is done, and you have succeeded. I will remember this and call upon you again once my plan is complete,’_ Hawkmoth said as he clenched his fist. Lila felt the power leave her and looked down at herself to watch the suit fade away.

“But what about me! You can’t do this to me!” Lila was angry, but with the powers gone all she could do was return home. She looked around and spotted a fire escape. She walked over to it as she sneered, “You better be true to your word, Hawkmoth. Or the next time you akumatize me, I’ll come after you!”

The butterfly flew back to its master as quickly as it could, becoming purified on the way. Once it flew back into Hawkmoth’s hands, he enchanted it again and sent it back out. His target had only gotten angrier by the time the Akuma landed on her phone, video paused on the kiss.

_‘You are sad and angry because your heroes betrayed your trust, and your best friend has secrets that she has kept even from you. Let me help you show them that secrets are best brought out into the open, Blackmailer!’_

“I shall uncover all the secrets and protect my friend from sure heartbreak!” Alya called as the dark powers washed over her. She remembered this feeling suddenly. She’d been akumatized before, but this time she didn’t care about Ladybug’s identity, she cared about her friend. “That two-timing alley cat, Adrien! Now I'm sure, I have twice the proof needed to show Marinette you are cheating on my friend.”

Hawkmoth heard her words and, confused, asked, “What do you mean by that, Blackmailer? What proof?” He stood in his attic space when he asked the question and heard the girl’s response within his own mind.

_‘I saw Adrien detransform from Chat Noir just now! I’ve suspected him for months since I saw Adrien and Ladybug on the Eiffel Tower after the fashion show. I will protect Marinette!’_

Hawkmoth was speechless. Chat Noir and Adrien? Sure, the illusion was fake, but this person suspected the same thing he did not too long ago. So much started to make sense to him, now. Adrien setting up his phone to play piano instead of playing himself. Adrien escaping on Christmas last year and the manhunt that followed. He knew he was partially to blame for his absence because of his obsession with recovering Emilie, but Adrien’s constant disappearances…

He realized that his victim had already begun her pursuit of his son. He had to act fast for fear he would be discovered.

_‘No, Adrien can wait. You must protect your friend. Gather allies and prepare yourself before you approach the boy to give him no escape!’_

She agreed and returned to the Dupain-Cheng residence. Gabriel turned, knowing his assistant was nearby. She would always support him in his grand plan and, no matter his feelings towards her, his pursuit of reviving his wife.

“Nathalie, go into Adrien’s room and bring me his silver ring. Do what you must, and bring his bodyguard with you. Recover his ring and bring it to me.”

“Of-of course, sir,” was all she said as she walked away. He knew the miraculous of the cat was a ring. He knew the miraculous had other appearances depending on whether they were powered or not, but he didn’t know what they all looked like unpowered. The book only showed their powered states. If he was right, then Chat Noir would be out of the way. Then, he only needed-

“Sir, he’s gone!” Nathalie said, panic in her voice. Gabriel growled.

“Blackmailer, Chat Noir is on his way to save your best friend, be ready! Show the boy just who he is dealing with!” he said. Turning to Nathalie, he said, “Adrien is Chat Noir.”

“But sir, how do you-”

“Don’t question me, Nathalie. I know. That’s all there is to it. Once he returns and is asleep, retrieve his ring and put it into my safe.”

“Yes, sir.” He ignored the sadness in his assistant’s voice as it echoed within his own heart. He had beaten his own son to nearly a pulp about two weeks ago when he turned Nathalie into Catalyst. She had been forced to become Mayura to get him out of the situation, and her health had suffered because of it. The peacock miraculous had taken his wife, it would not take Nathalie too. He would protect what was left of his family, and if that meant removing his son’s cat ring and being halfway to completing his wish, that was all the better.

*****************************

Marinette, exhausted from helping her parents down in the bakery finally made it into her room just in time to see herself in her room. Shaking her head and rubbing her eyes, she watched as her other self just smiled at her before vanishing. She was shaken for a moment before Tikki floated in front of her face.

“Marinette! There must be an Akuma, you have to transform and go!” Tikki chirped in panic.

“Right, I’ll call Adrien first so he can get here too. Hope he’s still awake!” Marinette said as she retrieved her phone and hit the speed dial. After three rings, she was worried that he wouldn’t answer when a click on the other end caused the ringing to stop.

“Hello? My Lady?” came the sleepy answer.

“Close Kitty, I need you to wake up Adrien! I just saw myself in my room!”

“Did you happen to look in a mirror in the dark? You being in your room is pretty normal,” Adrien said, a yawn quickly following. He’d had a busy day before the date and he was exhausted too. Apparently not too tired if he could still make jokes.

“No, you don’t understand! It was an illusion. You need to get over here.”

“You mean like Volpina?” This woke him up.

“Maybe, I don’t know. I didn’t think Hawkmoth would strike again, he knows those illusions don’t work. Just get over here before-” Marinette was cut off by the sound of evil laughter. “I think she’s here! Hurry up!”

“I’m up and gonna be on my way in a second, can you see anything?” He asked, jumping out of bed and preparing to transform.

“I don’t know, but-”

“I am Blackmailer! I will uncover your secrets Adrien Argeste! I will protect my friend from you!”

“I think she’s after you!”

“What makes you say that?”

“The fact that she just said she wants to uncover your secrets!” Mari exclaimed into the phone as she peeked out the window to see the Akuma. “Oh no, it looks like Alya is Blackmailer!”

“Okay, don’t worry, we’ll save her. I’ll be there soon. Plagg, transform me!” She heard the magic on the other end. He must have put the phone down before picking it up again once the transformation finished. “Mari, are you safe? Can you transform?”

“No,” she whispered. Blackmailer had just begun to crawl into her room from her balcony as she quickly tried to hide under her desk. Marinette watched as the Akuma walked right past her and down her ladder that led to the rest of the house. “Chat, hurry. I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’s here.”

“You two are Marinette’s parents, where is she?” Blackmailer said and Marinette paled. She was targeting her parents.

After some muffled response, Marinette heard the sound of ruffling papers and then gasps from her parents.

“Now I have your secrets, the darkest ones no one ever knew! If you don’t want them out for the world to see, you will protect your daughter with your lives! Someone is trying to hurt her and it’s your job as her parents to keep her safe!”

“How do we know you aren’t trying to hurt her?” Sabine shouted and Marinette panicked.

“No, mama!” she whispered loudly into the phone. Chat growled from the other end.

“Wrong answer!” Marinette heard Sabine gasp overtop of whatever her mom’s secret was being revealed.

“Sabine…” her father said, shocked. All the response she got was Sabine crying uncontrollably.

“Now, unless you want to end up like your wife, protect your daughter! Don’t let her leave!” Blackmailer shouted as she entered her bedroom again, looking around.

“Almost there Marinette, just hang on-”

“There you are, my BFF!” Blackmailer took the phone from her ear and put it to her own. Marinette was frozen, still hearing her mother crying somewhere downstairs. “Hello, kitty cat. Coming to save your princess from her tower? Well, I’m going to be ready for you when you arrive, Adr-”

“No!” Marinette shouted, jumping up to grab at her phone. Blackmailer held it above and out of her reach.

“So you know and you never told me? I can’t believe you, Marinette! How could you!”

“I’m sorry Alya, I don’t know what you are talking about, I-”

“Lies! How long have you lied to me, Mari? Guess I’ll figure that out, huh? Reveal your secrets to me!” Dropping Marinette’s phone to the ground, breaking it on contact, she reached for her own phone and took a picture of Marinette. She fell to the ground as black papers circled around her. She looked up glare on her face, as the black papers formed between her akumatized friend and Mari. The papers stacked into an envelope and floated to Blackmailer.

“Once I open this, we’ll know your deepest, darkest secrets. I’ll finally know what you’ve been keeping from me, Marinette!”

“Please, Alya! You don’t want to do this! I’ll tell you everything, just come over tomorrow and I’ll-”

“No!” she shouted. “I knew something was wrong with that Chat I saw with Adrien. Was it you? Did you help him?”

“Alya I-” Blackmailer stopped glowering at Marinette as the purple butterfly outline appeared over her eyes. With an evil smile, she responded aloud, “Yes Hawkmoth, I knew it! It is him! I’ll prove it to the world!”

Marinette just stared at her best friend in stunned silence. Hawkmoth knew Adrien was Chat Noir? Did he also know who she was? How did he figure it out? How in the heck were they going to get out of this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats! You've reached the end!
> 
> Bet you didn't see that coming, huh? I threw in a whole new curve ball! As I mentioned in the earlier notes, my injury makes it difficult to do things. I walk slower, have to elevate my foot (which, with my desk is nearly impossible), and have to take pain meds every 6 hours to keep my discomfort under control. So sitting for hours writing is gonna be hard until I get better. This means that after ch 18, there might not be another chapter for a while. I have 19+ planned out already and will work on it when I can, and I hate leaving you all on cliff hangers, but it can't be helped. 
> 
> Thanks for understanding and see you all later next week!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir comes to save his princess, but will he make it in time? Will Hawkmoth finally know who is under the Ladybug mask? What will he do with this knowledge once he has it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I'm here with a new chapter and I hope you enjoy, but I wanna chat with you a bit before you start.
> 
> I worry about your reactions to the next couple of chapters, and once you finish this one you'll know why. I fear you may hate it, or love it, but I will continue until this story is complete. Let me know what you think in the comments, as I read all of them. Also, I have a hard time with Ladybug's lucky charm, but I'm working on creative ideas for the coming chapters, so wish me luck!

Chat Noir just arrived on Marinette’s balcony to black paper covering her hatch. He could hear voices inside, so the Akuma was in there with Mari. Jumping down, he searched for another way in but found none. They were all covered with black newspapers. Returning to her balcony as quietly as possible, he tried to text Mari but got no response. Having no other choice, he knew he had to break in to save her.

“Cataclysm!” he shouted as he touched the floor beneath him. He saw the floor of the balcony age quickly and break open, allowing him to land easily on Marinette’s bed. The Akuma, Tom, and Marinette were all in the room and somewhere else he could hear Sabine crying. Chat practically growled in anger. How dare Hawkmoth hurt such nice people. They had welcomed Adrien into their home and daughter’s heart with open arms. He’d pay, and Adrien would make sure of it!

“Ah, here is the two-timing tomcat now! Ready to hear your mistresses secrets, Chat Noir?” Blackmailer said, waving a black envelope in front of her face. She started to pull the envelope open just the tiniest bit and caused a tearful scream to come from Marinette. She crossed her arms across her chest in pain, tears streaming down her beautiful face.

“Stop it! What do you want?” Chat called, reaching out for the envelope. Blackmailer snickered.

“You, Chat Noir. I want you to leave my friend alone! I saw you bring flowers to Marinette and detransform. I know who you really are and I want you to leave her alone for good, Adrien!” 

“No, don’t!” Marinette said a second too late, reaching out. Blackmailer laughed at the girl’s outburst, pulling the envelope open just a bit more as more tears and cries came from her victim.

“Why? I love Mari with everything in me! I make her happy just like she makes me happy! Right now, I’m here to keep making her happy while you torture her! Who’s the one hurting your ‘friend’ now?” he shouted back. He didn’t bother denying the accusation. Tom just looked at the hero with new eyes and Chat hoped the magic ladybugs would remove his memory of this event.

“Not gonna deny it. Hmph, fine. I am protecting her from heartbreak and pain, from you! Once I get your ring from you and give it to Hawkmoth, you’ll lose both Marinette and Ladybug! Paris doesn’t need a cheating hero!” Blackmailer shouted as she shot black papers at Chat. He dodged it, jumping down from the bed and landing next to Marinette. 

He picked her up in one fluid motion and jumped aside in another, just missing being hit again. He darted to the stairs leading down into the apartment, but Tom blocked his way. Chat met the man’s eyes, he looked determined as he blocked the way.

Blackmailed laughed. “The fear of your darkest secrets being outed will make people do anything!” 

Tom looked at Chat Noir, then his daughter and, with a defeated sigh, he whispered, “Take care of her and I’m sorry Marinette, honey.” He put his hand on Chat’s shoulder, and pulled him down the stairs and blocking the way back up with his body.

“Dad, no!” Marinette cried to her father’s back. Chat hugged Marinette to him as she cried for her father who blocked Blackmailer from reaching them.

“You idiot! Let’s see what your darkest secret is!” the sound of Tom’s envelope being ripped open caused the large man to collapse as his darkest secret was released.

“I cheated at my first baking contest. I sabotaged the other contestant, that’s why I’m the best baker in Paris and how I got Sabine to love me.” The secret released, Tom was reduced to a shadow of his former self, visibly darkened and crying in the fetal position. Marinette covered her mouth as the tears fell while Chat gritted his teeth and ran. He jumped out an open window and, using his cat pole, vaulted as far away as he could, Blackmailer’s laughter echoing after them.

Many rooftops were crossed, the Eiffel Tower was passed, but Chat kept running. His princess was still crying, so he ran until he finally felt he could stop to comfort her. He landed at the feet of the Roue de Paris, breathless as he finally set down Marinette. She wiped her eyes with her hand as Tikki appeared from behind her head.

“Adrien, she-”

“I know. We’ll save your parents, don’t worry,” he assured her.

“I am worried about them, but she knows who you are! What if she goes to try and hurt your father?” 

That hadn't occurred to him. He was probably asleep and wouldn’t even hear Blackmailer. But he couldn’t be worried about his absent father when the only person in all of Paris who could free the Akuma was emotionally upset right in front of him. He picked up her hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it.

“He’ll be fine. Anything that happens will be cured by the ladybugs. I need to worry about you, right now. You are the only one who can save your parents and everyone else from Blackmailer. Transform, bugaboo. I’ll protect you, always.”

His words touched her heart and she felt the tears burning behind her eyes, but crying would have to wait. She nodded confidently.

“Ready Tikki?” At the Kwami’s answering nod, she shouted, “Tikki, transform me!”

He’d seen her transform before, but it always made him smile in awe of his amazing girlfriend. This time being the only occasion in recent memory that neither were smiling as the magic took hold of Marinette. Once it completed, she grabbed for her yo-yo and began swinging it around in a circle, eyes scanning for a place to loop the string around. 

“So, what’s the plan, My Lady?” Chat asked, stepping up beside her. She looked at him, heard his miraculous beeping and caught her yo-yo in the other hand.

“First, you need to recharge. I’ll need you at full strength if we are gonna free Alya from Hawkmoth’s grasp. Then, it’s back to my house, where we last saw Blackmailer. Time to stop her tirade of terror in Paris before she gets anyone else.” She waited for Adrien to recharge Plagg and transform again before starting up her yo-yo swinging. Spotting a distant enough lamp post, she released the yo-yo. Once it wrapped around, she pulled it back and she took off, Chat Noir falling into step behind her.

Determined to protect her secret from being discovered and fixing Adrien’s already being revealed, the duo made their way back to the bakery. The only sounds were the incessant crying from Marinette’s parents inside. No sign of Blackmailer.

“Would she have gone to your house?” Ladybug asked, looking to her right. Chat just shrugged.

“I don’t think so. She already knows my secret, what would she gain by going there?”

“Do you think your father has anything he’s hiding?” Ladybug asked.

“I’m sure he hides a lot from me, but as to what exactly, not a clue.”

“Well, that’s as good a place as any to start. Let’s go, Kitty, she still has my envelope. If she opens it, I’ll be done for.” 

The heroes of Paris made their way easily to the Agreste mansion, landing just on the front steps only moments before they were surrounded by the citizens of the city they protected. Ladybug and Chat Noir went on the defensive as Blackmailer laughed somewhere above them.

“So the cat came back home, huh? Guess I figured right. I already have your father being tracked down by my little helpers, so give me Marinette before-- Wait, where is she? Did you leave her somewhere unprotected?!”

“Of course not, she’s with her parents trying to make them feel better after what you did to them!” Chat snarked back in the same attitude he’d been given.

“Ladybug, are you aware of what your boyfriend does when he’s not by your side? Perhaps I should show you!” Blackmailer began throwing black papers at the superhero as Chat did everything he could to dodge and avoid. Ladybug looked for an opening and struck out with her yo-yo, catching the Akuma’s firing hand.

“That isn’t any of my business and it’s not yours either!” Ladybug pulled hard, trying to make the other girl off balance and drop her phone, sure the Akuma was in there. It almost worked, but some people on the roof beside Blackmailer kept her on her feet by pulling against Ladybug’s super strength. She retrieved her yo-yo and leaped up and away from the rushing civilians. Blackmailer laughed as she waved a selection of black envelopes above them, forcing the civilians to attack their heroes. 

It broke Ladybug’s heart to have to fight them, but she had to get to Blackmailer and save these people from having their worse secrets revealed for everyone. Blackmailer continued to attack Chat Noir, acting as the perfect distraction as Ladybug tried to come up with a plan. Seeing no other option, and noticing Chat’s movements slowly just the slightest bit, she knew she was out of time.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug shouted as her magic produced a letter opener. Confused, she glanced around as she jumped up and around more Parisians in her pursuit of objects she could use. Her eyes landed on a compact mirror, her yo-yo, chat himself and the letter opener. The plan formed, she swung her yo-yo out for the compact and looked within. “If it worked before, it’ll work again. Hey Chat, come over here and get ready!”

“Right away, My Lady!” Chat called back, sounding breathy. He ran on all fours over to her while she antagonized Blackmailer.

“You know what, you’re right Blackmailer, I do want to know just what my Kitty does whenever he’s not with me. Think you can tell me all about it?”

“Even better, if you grab him I’ll get his envelope and he’ll tell you!” Blackmailer had turned around to face Ladybug just as Chat reached her.

“Sorry about this, Chat,” Ladybug whispered.

“Sorry about- wait, Ladybug! Don’t let her do this! We’re supposed to keep out secrets!” Chat wailed as Ladybug grabbed his hands and held them behind his back. “I won't let you do this! Cataclysm!” He hand glowed with dark, destructive energy and she was forced to release his hands just as Blackmailer fired. 

Ladybug had a split second to react. Dodging Chat’s hand, with his cat-like reflexes to help, she pushed him away and held up the mirror. The attack she fired bounced back to her as she fell to the ground, swarmed by black papers.

“Ladybug, I almost-” Chat said, paling.

“I know, but it’s alright. Your reflexes are really good after all.” The envelope containing Blackmailer’s darkest secrets floated for a moment before her before falling to the ground. Ladybug walked over and picked it up, placing the letter opener close to the seam of the envelope.

“No! Don’t, please!” Blackmailer cried out, holding her hand out in a vain attempt at grabbing it. Ladybug backed away.

“Give me your phone, Blackmailer! And the envelope you stole from Marinette.”

“Okay, I will. You’ve outwitted me, Ladybug,” Blackmailer said quietly, handing the phone over first. She was about to hand over the envelope but paused. She looked away from Ladybug and whispered, “Sorry Mari,” before she ripped open the envelope.

“NOOOOOO!” Ladybug screamed, but it was too late. Even Chat couldn’t stop it now. Ladybug hit the ground, much to Blackmailer’s surprise. 

In her own voice, Ladybug heard, “I’m Ladybug. I know the guardian of the Miraculous. My Kwami is Tikki and I’ve selected a few people to give miraculous to before, including my best friend Alya. I love her like a sister and I really look up to her each and every day. She makes me a better person!”

Ladybug’s skin paled, and it was everything she could do to keep herself from fading completely. Blackmailer looked up into the heroine’s face as both cried. Ladybug, blinking away the tears that burned the corners of her eyes despite them falling freely, used the letter opener to open the cell phone and remove the memory card. She handed it to Chat Noir, saying, “Destroy it” in between sobs.

Chat Noir took it quickly with his cataclysm and the card faded to dust. Pulling every ounce of energy she could, she forced herself to her feet. Sobs raking her body, she flung the letter opener into the air. 

“Mira-cul-ous La-dy-bug!” she cried before collapsing into a heap on the ground. Alya, completely unaware of the reason Ladybug’s tearful state tried to calm the hero with Chat as the heroine cried uncontrollably. Creation magic encircled all the affected areas and the civilians were returned to their homes, none the wiser that they had witnessed the complete breakdown of one of their heroes. Once Ladybug felt the magic wash over her, she sniffled a moment longer and stood up, capturing the Akuma and releasing the small, white butterfly once more. 

“Ladybug, I don’t understand. I was following Chat and-- you! You kissed Marinette! You cheater!” Alya was saying but Ladybug placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Come with us. We’ll explain everything.” She looked at Chat, and he just nodded with a small smile. Alya agreed and clung to Ladybug as they swung away, all without knowing they were in eyesight of the very villain they sought to defeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So um, yeah...
> 
> How worried are you guys now? Hate me or just worried about poor cinnamon roll Adrien? Well, you should be worried, because next chapter, shit gets real! I'll post the next chapter on Saturday, so be ready for that. Alya remembered nothing at the end of this, but Mari and Adrien (and Gabriel) do, and the couple is tired of hiding things from their friend. 
> 
> See you in the next one!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya is confronted by her friends about their secrets. With a choice heavy on her mind, another choice is already decided. 
> 
> Adrien returned home and collapses into bed, exhausted. But he quickly discovers he is not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are again with chapter 18. Man, this was never meant to get this long! I hope you enjoy this and I'll see you in the end comments and I have something to tell you all.

They took Alya back to the bakery and up onto Marinette’s balcony. Ladybug went in first to check on her parents, staying transformed as she did. Her father was kneeling beside her mother as they tried to figure out what exactly happened. Ladybug’s earrings beeped frantically, she had two minutes before she changed back. After quickly assuring her parents that Marinette was safely in bed and completely unharmed, they believed the superheroine and went to bed themselves. Ladybug breathed a sigh of relief as she went back up into her room. 

“Chat, bring her down,” she called, quietly. Chat helped Alya down into Marinette’s room before following after, landing in a very cat-like way.

“I don’t wait, where is Marinette?! You said she was safe Ladybug, so where is she?!” Alya exclaimed.

“Keep it down, I just got my parents to go to bed!” Ladybug whispered. Alya was about to question further when Ladybug’s earrings beeped again. One minute.

“Ladybug, I don't know what’s going on but you are about to change back.”

“I know,” she answered, calmly. Spreading her arms out, her transformation dropped causing the little Kwami to swirl around her and land into her quickly cupped hands. Alya’s jaw dropped as she stammered out nearly incoherent phrases of disbelief. Marinette didn’t listen or answer for a while. Her eyes still hurt from the tears she’d shed only a few minutes ago. Chat went over to her, his ring beeping the one minute alarm.

“Princess, I’m so sorry. I almost got you with my power. I’m sorry we weren’t able to keep your secret.” He placed his hand on her shoulder, the weight more of a comfort than a burden. She hadn’t felt lighter.

“Thanks, Adrien,” Mari said as she looked up from giving Tikki a cookie. His transformation fell and he was her wonderful boyfriend, caring and compassionate. 

“But--How--When--What?” Alya stammered. She closed her eyes, took a collecting breath and seemed to get her questions in order. “You and Adrien are Ladybug and Chat Noir?”

“Yes. Just like when I gave you and Nino the fox and turtle miraculous and told you guys to keep your secrets, it was because of something like this. We aren’t supposed to know each other’s identities, but I messed up and Adrien saw me.”

“I won’t say I wouldn’t change that day for the world, but I will say I don’t regret finding out,” Adrien said, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on Marinette’s head. Alya had the decency to blush a little at their display.

“The photo shoot…”Alya muttered.

“Yep,” Mari answered.

“So when the twins were akumatized-”

“Yes, I gave you the miraculous and asked for your help. You were amazing, by the way.”

“Chloe?”

“She doesn’t know and neither does Nino. Think you can help keep it from them, and maybe off the Ladyblog? If Hawkmoth monitors your blog, it could cause trouble,” Marinette escaped Adrien’s grasp and walked to Alya. “The only people who know are the people in this room and the master that gave me and Adrien the miraculouses, to begin with. Alya, please?”

“Of course Ladybug, I mean Mari! Wow, that’s gonna take some getting used to. So much makes sense now,” Alya said as she dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

“What are you doing, Alya?” Adrien asked as he stepped up to the girls.

“Deleting the video I took of Chat bringing Mari flowers. Was gonna put it on the Ladybug and call out Chat, but I won’t do that. Not anymore, at least.”

“That’s why I saw another me in my room,” Marinette said, smacking her forehead. “Volpina made you see an illusion. That wasn’t real, Alya. Your distrust of Adrien made Hawkmoth bring Volpina back and create that illusion to trap you.” Everything was falling into place for Marinette. She had to sit down to really piece everything together as she flopped heavily onto her chaise.

“What do you think it means, Mari? What was Hawkmoth’s goal?” Adrien asked as he went to sit beside her.

“Alya, you posted that picture of Ladybug and Adrien on the Ladyblog. The one you were going to use to try and make Adrien look bad, right?”

“Yeah, and I’m sorry about that. Had I known, I would never have-”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know and that’s fine,” Adrien confirmed, waving off further apology.

“If Hawkmoth is monitoring the Ladyblog, then he saw that picture. Between Adrien’s face plastered all across Paris and Chat Noir posted on your blog, he may have started to get an idea as to who Chat is. Or at least figured they were similar enough to use the similarity to trick you. His goal is to get our miraculous, it’d be a lot easier if we weren’t transformed to get them.”

“So he had Volpina show Alya an illusion of Chat bringing Marinette flowers and detransforming to Adrien. Then, once Alya was feeling negative emotions, he gave her the power to reveal secrets,” Adrien summarized.

“Oh no, I don’t remember anything guys. I’m sorry, did I…?” Alya’s voice trailed off.

“Chat didn’t deny it when you called him Adrien and you opened my envelope where I admitted to my identity.” Alya heard the defeat in her best friend's voice and felt ready to cry herself. “I should have listened to you, Adrien. We should have told you sooner, Alya.”

“Girl, no, it’s all my fault for getting so upset. You both have done so much for this city and my need to protect you after all you’ve been through…” Alya sniffled, she was crying. She fell to her knees in front of her best friend and Adrien and Mari held her as she did. She felt so guilty about things she couldn’t remember.

Once the tears dried up between all three of them, Alya got her phone back out.

“Now what are you doing?” It was Marinette’s turn to ask.

“Texting Nora, telling her I’m staying over at your house. I think we have to set some ground rules and have other things to discuss. We have to find a way to keep your miraculouses safe from Hawkmoth.”

“I’d better get going home before Nathalie comes to get me up in… three hours, ugh!” Adrien groaned.

“Keep your ring close, we don’t know who Hawkmoth is, but he knows us. If he tries to send someone sneaky to get your miraculous while you sleep, I’d be down my partner.”

“Right, but I think I’m pretty safe in my own home. With my father’s security system, no one gets in or out without permission,” Adrien rolled his eyes as he spoke. Marinette giggled and watched him transform and hop out of her skylight.

“So, let’s start planning. We don’t have much time until morning and there is no school tomorrow.”

“Right. Okay, first I’ll fill you in on how I almost made you Ladybug.” Alya raised her eyebrows at that but listened intently to the explanation.

Adrien leapt into his bedroom window and let the transformation fall off at the same moment as he fell into bed. As he rolled over to sit up and crawl under his covers, he realized that he’d been in Marinette’s bedroom with Alya in little more than a pair of boxer briefs. With a groan he flung himself against his pillow, mortified. He was always careful whenever he knew he’d be staying over at Mari’s to dress more appropriately, but there was no time to put anything else on when she called him in panic. He had socks on, but the pair of girls saw his bare chest and all the muscles of his midriff. A pull of his hand caused him to look up from his pillow of despair and see Plagg tugging the ring off his finger.

“Plagg, what are you doing?” he asked.

“Doing as Ladybug asked and hiding myself and your ring somewhere out of sight!” Plagg said, tugging hard at the ring on his chosen’s finger.

“No one is gonna come for it now, just let me keep it for tonight and go to sleep. We have an early start in the morning,” Adrien mumbled as he pulled another pillow to cover his head.

“Well, I’m going to stay up all night and keep an eye out. I don’t want to be used by anyone but you,” Plagg said quietly, crossing his little arms across his chest.

“Thanks, Plagg,” Adrien said, half asleep already. The boy was fully asleep only minutes later and Plagg just shook his head. 

Within thirty minutes, the cat Kwami was dozing quietly on the bookcases near the computer when the teen’s bedroom door slid open. Two forms walked carefully into the room and stood on either side of Adrien’s bed. Neither wanted to do what they were about to, but neither had any choice. With precision, the thinner form reached over to the sleeping boy’s hand and gently began removing his silver ring. The larger figure prepared for any chance of Adrien waking up, ready to grab the sleeping boy should he fight back.

Adrien felt the slight tugging of his hand and, with bleary eyes, tried to look around at why he was awoken. He saw Nathalie holding his hand, ring half off his finger. On instinct, he clenched his fist and tried to yank his hand back, keeping hold of the ring barely still on his finger. He tried to call for Plagg, but before he could he was forced down into his bed by Gorilla from behind, arm outstretched. Adrien tried to struggle, but without Chat Noir’s super strength, it was useless as Nathalie went back in for his ring.

“I’m sorry Adrien. Your father will take care of you in a few hours, once he gets Ladybug’s earrings and makes his wish,” she whispered as she held the ring to her chest and walked quickly out of the room. 

Adrien was on the verge of tears before his bodyguard released him. Adrien ran to his bedroom door, only to find it locked from the outside. He wasn't even aware it could do that. He screamed for Nathalie to come back, bring him his ring back. Called for his father not to do what he was surely about to. Not to hurt Ladybug. No one listened. No one, but Gorilla. Putting a heavy hand on the boy’s shoulder, he made a sad sounding grunt as Adrien finally broke down.

“No. Everything went wrong. I should have let Plagg--wait, Plagg! Plagg, where are you?” He looked up and scanned his room. 

The tiny cat floated over to Adrien, right past his bodyguard and yawned. “Why you screaming for and--woah! Where’s your ring? Where’s my miraculous?!” The Kwami went from half asleep to wide awake and panicked within the span of a heartbeat.

“Nathalie took it. We have to get to Mari, to warn her! My dad is Hawkmoth and we have to keep the earrings out of his hands!” Plagg was nearly useless without the ring, so he looked to his bodyguard. “Please, can you help me get out of here? Take me to Mari’s?”

Gorilla thought about it for only a moment before he nodded. He had a soft spot for his charge, and Adrien knew it. 

“Plagg, we need a way out of here, think you can give us a hand?” Adrien asked as he motioned to the windows.

“That’ll be easy! I’m coming to save you, Sugarcube!” Plagg proclaimed as he went to the floor to ceiling window and tapped the glass panes. Cracks formed in the glass and across the floor and ceiling at the Kwami’s powers, only moments before the windows shattered, spraying glass shards everywhere. Gorilla stood in front of Adrien to protect him from any shards that might reach them before picking the boy up and carrying him over the debris field that had become his bedroom.

“I think you may have outdone yourself, Plagg,” Adrien said as he eyed the Kwami.

“Yeah, well, don’t tell the master and we’ll let this slide.”

Gorilla carried Adrien all the way to the car parked out front of the Agreste mansion, opened the back door and dropped him in the back seat before moving to the front of the car. He was careful to keep his left shoulder out of sight, as well as the shard of glass sticking out from his suit. Getting into the driver seat, he started the car with ease but a voice from the front of the house caused both to look back in that direction.

“Plagg, I renounce you,” Gabriel Agreste said, holding the ring of the cat in his hand. Plagg felt the pull and tried to hold on to Adrien but was quickly pulled into the ring.

“No! Plagg!” Adrien, tears already falling from earlier came back as his only constant for the last year and a half was pulled into the ring he’d had just as long.

“It’s for your own good, Adrien,” his father said as he turned and walked back inside with Nathalie. She hung her head as she shut the doors to the mansion.

Adrien never felt so broken as he did just then. His father had turned on him. His father was Hawkmoth. His father had his miraculous. His father was halfway to making whatever wish he was going to make.

Gorilla drove off with no further resistance to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and towards the only one who could stop his father’s plan now. Marinette.

******************************

Alya and Marinette were just laying down in her loft when they heard the pounding on the door downstairs. Alya was first down from the bed with Mari only a step or two behind, but Tikki phased through the skylight hatch to see who was out front. Swinging the hatch back, Alya rushed downstairs into the living room and kept going, but Marinette paused. 

They had been discussing what to do if Hawkmoth ever found her, and Alya would protect her friend no matter what. Marinette had the ladybug miraculous, she could set anything right with the miraculous ladybugs, so she was needed. She was also the only one, aside from Adrien himself, who knew where Master Fu was located and if Hawkmoth got a hold of her…

Tikki phased right up to Marinette, floating inches from her face and causing the girl to stop halfway down the stairs.

“Marinette, go to the bathroom and get that white box you keep in there. The one with the red plus sign,” Tikki said, eyes wide and looking terrified.

“You mean the first aid kit? Why, who’s hurt?” Marinette said, already moving to obey the Kwami. 

“It’s Adrien, he-” 

Marinette dropped the kit onto the ground. “Is he hurt? Tell me, hurry Tikki!”

“No, but his bodyguard is.” Feeling a bit better, Marinette picked up the kit and rushed downstairs.

“What’s all that pounding, Marinette?” Sabine asked, groggily.

“Adrien’s here with his bodyguard. Apparently, the bodyguard is hurt,” Marinette said in a rush as she threw open their closed apartment door. Sabine rushed to get her husband while Marinette met Alya, Adrien, and Gorilla down at the side entrance that led right up into their house.

“Adrien, are you-you...” Marinette couldn't get the words out.

“No, I’m fine thanks to him but we need to talk. In private,” Adrien hinted, moving his right hand a little to catch her sharp eye. Marinette gasped as she saw what was missing. Her eyes moved to Adrien’s tired expression, eyes filled with sadness.

“Adrien, I-” She was cut off by her father rushing behind his daughter to help the large man inside and up the stairwell. Sabine grabbed the first aid kit, phone in hand seemingly with emergency services already en route to their location. As they headed up the stairs, everyone saw the shard of glass sticking out of the large man’s shoulder, dried blood caked around the wound. This left the trio of teens alone downstairs.

“Your ring,” was all Alya could say as she stared in horror at his hand.

“Was taken by Hawkmoth. I mean, by my father. All those months ago, you were right Mari, it was him.” Adrien, unable to hold himself up anymore, crumpled to his knees just inside the doorway to the house. Marinette went to him, kneeling by his side with Alya on the other. Even Tikki floated near the boy, gently kissing his cheek in a show of comfort.

“What happened?” Alya asked.

“I didn't listen to Plagg, that’s what happened. He wanted to take the ring and hide it, but I didn’t let him. How was I to know that my own father was Hawkmoth?” 

“We’ll get him back to you, I promise. You can tell us all about it up in my room after we check on your bodyguard, okay?” Marinette sounded determined and she was. “We’ll save Plagg and Nooroo, defeat Hawkmoth and finally put Akumas behind us.”

Gently, Adrien was helped to his feet by his girlfriend and friend before being led up the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you made it. Do you hate me now?
> 
> Anyway, what I wanted to tell you guys is this: I've finished A Model Boyfriend.
> 
> Yes, it will come to an end and I have written it. Whether or not it stays that way is up for debate, but don't worry. The last chapter is 21, so you have some time before it ends. I really enjoyed writing this fanfic and am glad I managed to bring joy to so many people! As we approach these final chapters, please let me know in the comments if you would want me to continue with a new section to this series in the future. See you in a few days with the next part!


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hawkmoth is half way to his ultimate goal, so close to his wish. Adrien, refusing to sit on the sidelines, begs to be useful. New Kwamis come join the party and new powers are revealed in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, me again! So, we are approaching the end of this series in about 2 more uploads. I hope you've enjoyed this crazy ride and share it with your friends. This chapter perfectly describes just how lost Gabriel is at this point, so be ready for that. Also, my headcannon on how the peacock for damaged and how Gabe got the miraculous to begin with. See you in the end notes!

He stood, basking in the morning light as the sunrise shown through his window staring at what lay within his hand. Gabriel had finally done it, he’d finally gotten the cat miraculous and soon he would be able to acquire the ladybug too. He still had no idea who the guardian of the miraculous was, but it didn’t matter. Once he had the earrings, he could wish for his dear Emilie’s return to the land of the living and his son would have his mother back.

Gabriel was never one for children, he’d warned Emilie years ago. Back when she used the peacock and he used the moth, and they traveled around the world. She was the one who gave him the miraculous, introducing him to Nooroo. She had heard of the ladybug and cat, but never saw anyone use them before. He was happy to travel with her while building his fashion empire before finally settling in Paris. It was one fateful night when someone Emilie knew, someone who had given her the peacock and moth, attacked her. He was careless and too slow to react, causing her miraculous to become damaged. This “guardian” was the beginning of the end for Gabriel’s happy life, as the damage to the miraculous almost cost his wife’s life.

He paid for the most sophisticated hyperbolic chamber he could find in order to preserve his wife’s life in her last moments. It was less than a year later, when the doctors had all but given up trying to heal her ailment, that he returned to Nooroo and took on the form of Hawkmoth turning to the dark side of his miraculous. Feeding on the emotions of the citizens of Paris, emotions strong and negative enough to allow him to empower his dark Akumas. After all this time, his wish was nearly in his grasp. Everything would be perfect again.

He heard more than saw Nathalie beside him. He had warned her to not use the peacock, but she had once before and was prepared to do so again if he wished it. He valued her dedication, but her condition had gotten no better nor worse since the first use and he couldn’t risk losing her too. It would only further break his fragile hold on this world. 

“Sir, the gps in Adrien’s phone puts him at the Dupain-Cheng bakery,” Nathalie confirmed for him.

“Excellent. Let’s see if my son’s girlfriend will try and come save his precious ring.” 

Even as he said the words, he knew they were true. If not for herself or him, but for the last guardian of the miraculous. Surely he would want all the miraculous back with him so he could go into hiding again and keep Gabriel’s wish from being made forever. Dooming Emilie to a life of endless slumber, prematurely frozen in a state of stasis, was something he could not allow. She had given him the book after her encounter with the guardian, hoping it might somehow enable him to fix the miraculous. Numerous attempts had been made to decipher it, but to no avail and his wife had suffered for it. He would not allow her to suffer any longer.

“Sir, if you want I can have him retrieved. Perhaps if you explained to him what your ultimate goal was, he would-”

“It doesn’t matter now, Nathalie!” he snapped at her, cutting off her words. “All that matters now is fulfilling my wish and giving the boy his mother back. That is all that matters.” 

Even to Nathalie’s ears, he was sounding more and more unhinged. They were so close to his ultimate goal, and she would do anything for her love, but if it meant hurting Adrien...she wasn’t so sure. She watched as Gabriel clutched the silver ring in his hand and transformed into Hawkmoth again. She watched him become surrounded by white butterflies at his transformation, fluttering softly like leaves in a gentle breeze. She just bowed her head.

“Of course, sir.” He all but ignored her affirmation and laughed maniacally, a sound that echoed around the suddenly empty chamber and drowning out the wing beats of the butterflies.

*******************

“Adrien, you can’t! You don’t have your powers. Let me and Rena and the others go, you have to stay here!” Marinette tried to reason with her boyfriend as he paced back and forth around her bedroom. It had been a long night of little sleep and Alya had went home to change and get Nino. After the miraculous team battle a couple of weeks ago, Alya knew Nino was Carapace, user of the turtle miraculous. She had figured it out while Nino learned the hard way that Alya was Rena Rouge.

“No Mari, I have to face my father myself! Please, you have to understand, no one knows the ins and outs of that place better than me!” He tried to sound rational even though he very much wasn’t acting it.

“So, you knew all this time your father was Hawkmoth? You know where his secret lair is and how to get there?” Silence followed as he stopped pacing and just looked at her. “That’s what I thought. You will only get in the way, be a huge distraction for me and put yourself in danger! I said no.”

“Gee, thanks for that bugaboo, way to make me feel better,” he snarked. She flinched.

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. We’ll get Plagg back for you, I promise, but you have to stay here where you can be safe. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you,” she said, her voice shaking with barely controlled anxiety. She loved him with everything in her and if he got hurt because she couldn’t protect him…

He saw her worry written all over her face and sighed, moving to sit next to her. “I’m sorry Marinette, really. I just don’t want to be a burden on you and the others. Isn’t there another way I can help?”

“What are you-” then, it dawned on her. “Master Fu! He has more miraculous. Maybe you could use another one!”

“I was just thinking about helping you get past security, but that’d work too. What you thinking, Princess?”

An idea was starting to form in Marinette’s quick mind. “A new plan, Kitty. And this one is better than the last! Tikki, I think we need to visit the master.”

“I’m sure he’ll be okay with whatever your plan is, Marinette!” Tikki chirped helpfully as she zoomed into her chosen’s bag.

“Adrien, I need you here to explain everything to Nino until I get back,” Marinette said as she swung open her bedroom hatch.

“As always, I’ll follow your lead,” he said to her back as she rushed down.

She made a quick excuse to her parents about checking in with the police who had been called after Adrien and his bodyguard had shown up. They took Adrien as an endangered runaway and asked her parents to care for him until other arrangements could be made. No one had been able to reach Gabriel Agreste within his home. No one answered the doors or could even get close enough to question the reclusive man, and Marinette knew why. He was half way to his ultimate goal of making whatever wish he was going to make and would let nothing change that fact. Forget if his only child was hurt, mentally and emotionally, only his desires mattered. She hated him, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng didn’t hate anyone.

After a couple of bus trips and passing the house at least twice, Marinette finally entered the building that housed the last guardian of the miraculous. She was being extra careful now, in case she was followed. She knocked upon his door, making sure he didn’t have a patient in his office. As she waited, foot tapping frantically in the hallway, she hoped he wouldn’t be angry with Adrien or her. He had been right all along, Gabriel had been the one who had the book all that time ago. He even akumatized himself to throw Ladybug off his trail and what’s worse, it worked. She smacked herself in the forehead several times before Master Fu had cleared his throat.

“Can I help you, Marinette?” he asked just as she was bringing her hand to her forehead again. She looked at him, blushed a bit at being caught and smiled.

“Hi Master, we have a small problem.”

She then proceeded to bring him up to speed on what had transpired over the last 24 hours and how messed up her life had suddenly become. She left nothing out as he was the only person she had ever been completely honest with, most of the time. From Blackmailer to Adrien losing his miraculous to Adrien running away and finally ending up in Marinette’s parents care per police order, she told him everything. Pacing before the tatami mats as Master Fu simply poured some tea for himself and Marinette, unbeknownst to her. When she finally finished speaking, she stopped and just stared at Fu, curious why he wasn’t berating her for her foolishness at being seen and causing all this chaos to begin with.

Instead, Master Fu simply sat there, sipping his tea calmly.

“Um, Master?” she questioned, unsure if the older man had heard even a word of what she’d said.

“Yes, Marinette?” he responded, putting his tea down and motioning for her to sit and drink her own tea. She sat.

“Did you hear me? Hawkmoth knows who I am, has Adrien’s ring and is going to try and get my earrings!”

“I heard every word, Marinette. But I also know you. You have been Ladybug for a long time, and you are incredibly smart and sharp. You would not be here if you did not have a plan.”

She paused at that, absorbing everything the man said. She did have a plan, but she thought he’d be more upset about what had happened.

“So, you aren’t mad?” she asked.

“Of course not. Am I upset that Adrien got his miraculous taken, yes I am. However, do I blame you or him in anyway? How can I blame either of you when neither is at fault? The only one at fault is Hawkmoth himself.”

Relief washed over Marinette as his words sunk in. He wasn’t mad or upset with her or Adrien, just at Adrien’s father. 

“I must admit I am curious why you came here,” Master Fu wondered aloud. “Did you come seeking a new partner, perhaps?”

“In a way, Master. I have a plan to get the cat miraculous back, but I need to borrow the fox, turtle, bee and… another.”

“This must be some plan you have made to require so many. Would you mind sharing it with me?” Master Fu said as he turned to his phonograph where the hidden Miracle box was safely hidden.

“I’d rather not, if it’s at all possible. The fewer who know my full plan, the better.” Marinette watched as the Miracle box, with its many compartments, slid open. She grabbed the fox necklace, the bee comb, and Master Fu himself handed over the turtle bracelet with a nod from Wazz. “Now, which one…”

She rolled over the different powers in her head as her eyes scanned each miraculous. The horse could be useful, but wouldn’t work for her plan. She needed someone quick, stealthy and fast while still able to hold their own if she needed it. Chat Noir was usually good as a distraction and his destruction ability proved useful more times then she cared to count, and without it her plan would be challenging. Spotting the one she sought, she picked it up gently and showed it to the master.

“Do you have someone in mind for that miraculous, Marinette?” Master Fu asked, smile spreading across his face.

“I do. From one cat to another, I think this will suit him fine. With your permission, Master?”

At his nod of acknowledgement, her smile widened, she thanked him and took her leave of the guardian’s home. She had to get to Adrien and her friends quickly before Hawkmoth tried to strike out at her again.

Marinette took a similar route home, but kept it just as confusing, which forced her to arrive home nearly a half hour later than she probably could have. After making something up to her parents again, she hated lying to them, they informed her that both Alya and Nino were waiting for in the living room upstairs. She thanked them for the tray of treats they offered her and headed up quickly to the apartment above the bakery. Once inside the apartment, Marinette’s heart soared at the view before her.

Adrien was animatedly playing Ultimate Mecha Strike 4 against Nino, and winning. The game was so loud that neither of them heard her entrance, but a door down the hall told Marinette that Alya had just come out of the bathroom. Spotting her BFF, Alya went to call to the guys, but Marinette waved her away, wanting to just watch Adrien’s happy smile a moment longer. In her backpack, she held the four miraculous in their own little boxes, but she just wanted to give her friends this moment of happiness. 

“Marinette,” Tikki’s soft voice spoke near her ear, and she knew it was time to get serious. Nodding at her Kwami, Marinette walked up to the couch that Alya had left a space for her next to Adrien and leaned close to her boyfriend’s ear. He was completely engrossed in the game.

“Having fun, Kitty?” she whispered into his ear. Startled, he dropped the controller with a clatter onto the coffee table and turned toward the speaker, blush creeping across his cheeks.

“Yeah! I win! Thank’s Mari!” Nino said, looking over at her. She just smiled at him for a bit before turning back to Adrien. He didn’t seem quite so happy.

“Yeah, thank’s Mari,” Adrien said, grudgingly. 

“Well, you’ll be happy to know Ladybug has pulled it off. Alya, Nino, for you. You know what to do, right?” Marinette said as she stood and handed the two boxes to the couple. Nodding, they opened up their boxes with a smile as Trixx nuzzled Alya and Wayzz fist-bumped Nino. “I have Chloe’s too, in case we need her. Which, unfortunately, I think we will. And for you, Adrien…”

“You got one? Really?” Adrien perked up at that, turning fully towards his girlfriend.

“Of course. I hope you use it well and thank the Master after we return it to him.” Adrien nodded and waited impatiently for Marinette to open the small box in her hands. With a calming breath, she held it out to him. “Adrien Agreste, I present you with the miraculous of the tiger, which will grant you the power of invisibility. Once we reclaim the cat and moth miraculous, you will return this miraculous to me. Same goes for both of you, Alya and Nino.” Marinette added the last as she glanced back at her friends, who both nodded.

“You know, that sounds kinda weird coming from Marinette and not Ladybug,” Nino said. Alya snickered beside him.

Marinette blinked and rubbed the back of her head, smiling nervously. “Guess I’ve always had a little Ladybug in me, huh?” She turned back to Adrien as he took the box from her.

“The tiger? Invisibility? Sounds cool!” he said as he opened the box. Purple magic swirled around him to form a Kwami in front of his face. A purple tiger with dark red stripes around his tail and on his head opened red eyes and smiled widely at the model, bearing a couple of sharp, tiny fangs.

“Hello, My name’s Roarr, and I’m going to be your Kwami!” the small tiger said.

“Hi Roarr, I think we are going to work purrfectly together.”

Roarr looked at Marinette then at Tikki floating beside her. “I think I like him, can I keep him?” he asked.

“I don’t think so, Roarr. You’re on loan just like Trixx and Wayzz,” Tikki confirmed. Roarr looked sad for a second, Adrien did too a bit, before the tiger perked up again.

“Alright then, guess we’ll have to have fun while be can, right?” Roarr offered his paw to Adrien who smiled and took it.

“Alright, we’ll have to transform after we leave the house and I’ll brief you guys on the plan along the way to the Agreste mansion after we get Chloe. As long as she sticks to the plan and doesn’t try to go off on her own, we should be good! Um, Adrien, you need help with that?” Marinette asked as she watched Adrien trying to figure out how to put on the bracelet.

“Um, maybe?” he asked, shyly. Marinette giggled.

“It’s a panjas bracelet, or a slave bracelet. Each ring goes on your fingers, then the bracelet around your wrist,” Marinette spoke as she held his right hand, sliding the rings over each finger. 

“You know, one day you might be doing this in a white dress,” Adrien remarked and Marinette’s hands froze. She was just sliding the final ring over his pinky finger as her cheeks suddenly caught fire. Adrien seemed to realize he had spoken aloud at his girlfriend’s pause, and hastily added, “I mean, maybe. If you want to, I mean-!”

“Maybe,” Marinette whispered, looking up through her eyelashes at him. “Definitely maybe.”

Adrien’s cheeks caught fire just like Marinette’s had, but he smiled anyway.

“Do you two need a moment to make out before we leave, or what?” Alya said as she fastened the necklace around her neck. Nino had already slide the bracelet over his wrist along with his jelly ones.

Marinette hadn’t realized just how close she had gotten to Adrien’s face and jumped back, pulling slightly on the bracelet she still held on to. She apologized to Adrien for hurting him and he rubbed his sore wrist.

“So, who’s going to give Chloe her miraculous? Wow, I just can’t believe Chat Noir was my best friend all this time! Dude!” Nino said, star struck.

“Well, since we’re all going over there, I guess I will,” Marinette said, clutching the final box to her chest. “This has to go off just right for it to work. I hope my miraculous gives me something useful.”

“You’ll make it work, you always do, bugaboo,” Adrien added, placing a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him, looking to her friends to see they were smiling too.

“Right, because I’m Ladybug and I’m Miraculous. But I’m also clumsy Marinette,” she said with a sad smile. “So much has happened because I screwed up, and I’m sorry.”

“Girl, you need to-” Alya started to say, but Adrien put up a hand to stop whatever she was about to say.

“Marinette,” was all Adrien said, his voice stern and hard but with a soft edge. She knew he didn’t like her putting herself down and wouldn’t stand for it, so he walked around the couch and placed a hand under her chin to tilt her face up to his. No sooner than her eyes met his, he leaned down and kissed her. Surprised, it took her a second but she finally kissed him back. 

The floor beneath them, their friends, the laughing Kwamis all of it fell away and it was just Adrien’s lips on hers. The love he poured into her from that kiss alone took Marinette’s breath away and made her knees weak all at the same time. She didn’t need them, because only a moment later his arm was around her waist, pulling her close against him. She was his everything, and he hers in that moment, and somehow both knew it. Neither would be who they were today if it wasn't for the other. Marinette didn’t know how long they had kissed, but when they finally pulled away her lungs begged for air. Adrien inhaled sharply too, his arm around her back didn’t let her back away too far.

“Um, if you two are done, we gotta get going if we wanna get Plagg back,” Trixx said loudly enough to break into the couple’s perfect little world of bliss. 

“Trixx, that’s not nice! Adrien’s been through a lot,” Tikki chastised the Kwami, who looked immediately ashamed. As Tikki turned back to her chosen, she saw both teens blushing hotly. “Come on Marinette, we do have to get going before Hawkmoth has the chance to gain more allies!”

“R-right, Tikki. You’re right, of course you’re right. Absolutely!” Marinette blabbered on while looking away from the still blushing Adrien. She cleared her throat and walked toward the kitchen, searching for a rag for her hot face. “We need an excuse to tell my parents why we are all going out.”

“You guys can come to my place to study,” Nino offered.

“No, we don’t have-oh. Oh, that could work. Now, are we gonna tell Chloe about-”

“No!” came the unanimous response from her friends and Adrien.

“No offense, girl, but Chloe trusts Ladybug a lot more than you. No way we should fill her in on all this miraculous stuff,” Alya offered.

“Right, okay. Keep Chloe in the dark. Alright, I’ll talk to my parents and you guys just play along. Adrien, hide your hand or else mama will ask where it came from.” Adrien nodded and together, the team walked confidently downstairs to confront Marinette’s parents and set their plan into motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Adrien is gonna be the tiger for the next two chapters. That should be fun and nothing could ever go wrong with Chloe coming back right?
> 
> RIGHT?
> 
> Hope you enjoyed that little Adrienette moment, because you won't get one next chapter. 
> 
> Oh also, yes the bodyguard did get treated but I forgot to write that. Might edit it later. Okay, gotta go edit ch 20 now, bye!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and her team of superheroes round up their forces and make their final strike on Hawkmoth's lair. What defenses does he have in place for them? Will they be able to overcome them and make their way to the archnemesis? Or will they be fooled by his final tricks?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the next to last chapter of this story and oh my gosh was it fun! Chloe gets a bit of a transformation/redemption for past wrongs, a new Akuma and lots more. I hope you enjoy and look forward to the conclusion in the next few days!

Leaving the bakery with her friends wasn’t the easiest thing to do considering her parents were suddenly overprotective over Adrien, but after thirty minutes and a rush of new customers to deal with, they let the group leave. Marinette sighed once outside and Alya patted her shoulder in support. Adrien and Nino fist bumped once on the sidewalk and began chatting about their superhero personas and how cool the other was when fighting. Nino didn’t have nearly as much experience as Adrien, but Chat had seen it all and praised Carapace whenever he could. Mari rolled her eyes and Alya chuckled at the two boys with a shake of her head.

They walked together for a while, chatting about superheroes and fashion, Alya’s blog and new music coming out by Jagged Stone, anything that wouldn’t be too obvious to the occasional passerby. They couldn’t draw attention to themselves, or the high profile model with them, when they snuck into a little alley toward the heart of Paris. Ducking behind a take out chinese restaurant near the Eiffel Tower, they transformed and took to the rooftops, heading in the direction of Le Grand Paris and the home of Chloe Bourgeois. Ladybug had just landed on the rooftop with her team quickly in toe. Chloe was there, with Sabrina waiting on her every whim, dropping the plate of strawberries upon seeing the superhero team.

“What do you think you’re doing Sabrina?! I was eating those! What are you-- L-L-Ladybug!” Chloe bolted upright at the sight of her favorite superheroine walking calmly towards her.

“Hello, Chloe. Sorry about your strawberries, but I need your help,” Ladybug said, holding out the little box containing the bee miraculous inside. 

“Of course, Ladybug! What Akuma are we taking down, today? And who’s the new guy? He’s kinda cute,” Chloe said, snatching the box and opening it immediately. Pollen bowed to the snobby girl, both grinning ear to ear.

“No Akuma today, hopefully. The new guy is Bengal Royale, and he’s going to help us take down Hawkmoth.” Bengal posed in a similar fashion to what Chat normally would, causing Ladybug to elbow him and point at Chloe. She was gazing up at Ladybug, great concern on her face.

“You know where he is?! Who he is?” she asked.

“Yes, we do. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to face him, but you would be a big help, if and only if, you do exactly as I say. Can you do that, Queen Bee?” Ladybug asked as Chloe put the comb into her hair.

“Of course Ladybug. I would never do anything to jeopardize this mission! It’s too important and Paris needs Queen Bee! So, who are we going to face?” Chloe asked, rising to her feet and preparing to transform.

“Gabriel Agreste,” Ladybug said sternly. Bengal, to his credit, tried not to flinch at the name.

Chloe stumbled, pausing her transformation pose. “What?”

“It’s Gabriel Agreste. Is that a problem, Chloe?” Ladybug asked the girl, eyebrow raising under her mask.

“N-no, of course not Ladybug. You need me, right?” At the nod of every superhero present, the blonde swallowed hard. “His son, Adrien, is he safe? Does he know?”

“We’ve got him safe, Chloe. Don’t worry, your friend is totally safe with his girlfriend,” Bengal Royale offered. “Will you fight to protect one of your best friends from his father, Chloe?”

Chloe stared at Pollen as if willing her to give the girl the answers she sought.

“I will follow your lead, my Queen,” Pollen uttered. Chloe, for all her haughty and snobbish tendencies, felt her eyes burn a little.

“I will. I will fight for him, for Adriki- I mean Adrien,” she replied sternly. Carapace, Rena and Ladybug did their best to hide their shock, but Bengal just nodded carefully.

He knew his friend had a good side when she had the chance to dig deep enough. He knew that, for him, she would step up. At least, he trusted that she would. He was happy beyond words he was right.

Chloe shouted the transformation words and the golden magic washed over her. Once it faded and she was Queen Bee, she looked to the rest of her allies and actually saluted.

“Ready for your orders, Ladybug!”

“Good, I’ll explain on the way. I’ll need each one of you, so be ready!” Ladybug turned to take in her team. They all had determination in their eyes, and it warmed her heart to no end. One way or another this day would come to an end. And she hoped that it ended the way she wanted it to with no serious injuries.

******************************

“So, I’m going to help you corner him, in his mansion, while Bengal sneaks behind him and grabs the cat and moth miraculous?” Queen Bee asked from her perch. 

“That’s the general idea, yeah,” Ladybug said as she took in her team. Bengal nodded, holding up his miraculous adorned claw, while Queen Bee stared straight ahead of them. Carapace and Rena were going to be back up distractions if anything came up. The main plan involved her, Queen Bee and Bengal Royale. “Rena and Carapace, your illusions and shield will be most useful as backups, if we need it. We don’t know where exactly he is, or what kind of defenses he has, but we do know one thing. The Cat ring is in there and we have to get it back!”

“Right, we’ll follow your lead, Ladybug!” Rena said, gripping her flute tightly.

“For Adrien, my best bud,” Nino affirmed as he reached behind him to grab his shield. Bengal tried not to smile by biting his lip. Chloe caught this but misinterpreted it as anxiety.

“Don’t worry, new guy, you’ve got Queen Bee to watch your back. Well, since I won’t see you, I’ll try to watch your back.”

“R-right, thanks,” he said, trying to alter his voice just enough so she wouldn’t recognize him. It seemed to work because her eyes returned to Ladybug.

“Alright, we’ll split up into two teams. Rena and Carapace, head to Adrien’s bedroom. His window is broken, so you should be able to get in that way. Queen Bee, Bengal, and I will go in the front doors and face whatever is there. Once you guys sneak up from behind, we’ll go in search for Gabriel.” Tasks given, the heroes split up and went about their tasks. 

The trio landed silently near the front gates when a thought occurred to Chloe that she had to voice aloud. Ladybug was about to swing up and over the wall when the blonde’s voice broke her concentration.

“Why is Adrien’s window broken?” Ladybug’s yo-yo hit her on the head as Bengal coughed. Chloe, to her credit, looked back and forth at the pair.

“Well, y-you see…” Ladybug started. How was she supposed to explain it?

“Chat Noir discovered who Hawkmoth was and tried to get his miraculous,” Bengal offered quickly, seeing his Lady struggling.

“R-right! Yeah, he’s the one who got Adrien to safety when Hawkmoth found him and took his miraculous. Chat used his cataclysm to break in.” Marinette, under the mask, prayed the other girl would buy that weak explanation.

“Oh, makes sense. Glad Chat saved my Adri-, I mean, got my friend out of there.” Bengal and Ladybug looked at each other and shared a smile before Queen Bee used her top to zip her up and over the wall. The remaining pair joined her quickly, landing softly beside her.

“Okay, follow my lead,” Ladybug said as she stood and walked up the empty driveway with the other heroes in toe. Ladybug tried the door but found it locked, so she geared herself up and kicked the door in. Her enhanced strength sent the doors flying open while Bengal and Bee were at her side in an instant. Standing before them was just what they had feared.

“Hello Ladybug, Queen Bee, and-- Oh, you’re new. I don’t believe either of you has an appointment, I’m going to have to ask you to leave your miraculous here and come back later. My boss and love is much too busy right now for any of you.”

“L-love?” Bengal said, relaxing in his stance slightly. Standing before them was a woman, not immediately recognizable as a pair of small, dark glasses covered her eyes. She wore a business jacket, white button-up shirt, a small red tie and a pencil skirt with tall, heeled boots. She had a tablet in one hand, a stylist in the other and from behind her, two more arms held a cell phone and a notepad. 

“Bengal, stay focused!” Ladybug said, swinging her yo-yo around. “Who are you? Where is Gabriel Agreste?”

“I don't matter. I live to serve my boss, and I won’t tell you where he is!” the purple butterfly outline covered her eyes as she began listening to whatever Hawkmoth said.

“Hawkmoth! Come out, it’s over!” Ladybug yelled, knowing full well he could hear her.

The Akuma sneered as the outline faded away. “My boss wants me to take your earrings Ladybug, so hand them over or this Secretary will have to acquire what her boss asked of her herself.”

“You-you’re Nathalie!” Queen Bee exclaimed. Bengal looked at his father’s assistant with new eyes. Was the akumatization what made her say she loved his father or did she really…

“Bengal Royale, look out!” Ladybug screamed as she struck out with her yo-yo. Bengal looked and several pens were aimed right for him. Ladybug’s yo-yo blocked some of them, but he still had to leap to the side to avoid the rest. The pens he dodged lodged into the wall behind him like arrows shot from a bow.

“I’m gonna paralyze you, Nathalie, for everything Gabriel did to my friend!” Queen Bee shouted as she ran at Secretary.

“No, Bee! Remember the plan!” Ladybug called out, causing Chloe to stumble to a stop. She looked at Ladybug and nodded before dodging more flying office equipment. 

“I’ll find her Akuma,” Bengal Royale stated as he rushed up to Secretary, swiping projectiles out of the air with his sharp claws.

“Sorry, I have another call, Mr. Royale. Please hold!” Secretary called out as she pointed her cell phone at Bengal. From the phone sprang multiple curly phone cords, wrapping around Bengal and pinning his dangerous claws to his side. He struggled to free himself while Ladybug struck out again and again against Secretary. Queen Bee was deciding what to do first, help Ladybug or Bengal Royale when she caught movement upstairs.

She caught Rena Rouge and Carapace getting into position above and watching the scene below them, and Chloe made her decision.

“Hey Secretary, I need you to make a note for me to Gabriel. Tell him your fashion sense is horrendous and needs a change!” Being called out drew the Akuma’s attention and she turned to Chloe. Ladybug glanced back at Bee, who darted her eyes up and to the side where the rest of their team was getting into position. Ladybug narrowed her eyes and made her way over to Bengal to help him.

“Oh, forgive me, Ms. Bourgeois, I’ll pencil that in now!” Secretary called as she held out her notepad. From the small, lined pad came projectile No 2 pencils, all sharpened to deadly points. Queen Bee flinched and closed her eyes, but the impact never came.

“I’ve got you, Bee,” Carapace said from in front of Chloe, shield out. He took the brunt of the force, the pencils falling harmlessly to the ground before his shell shield. Rena was now in close combat with Secretary, but not alone for long as Carapace joined only moments later.

“Go!” Rena called. “Go find Gabriel and end this! We’ll hold her off!”

“Be safe!” Ladybug called as she finished helping Bengal get free. His claws could slice through the cord like it was nothing, but he needed to free one of his hands in order to cut it. Now free, they met up with Queen Bee and out of the room into the neighboring office where the large painting of Adrien’s mother was.

“That painting,” Bengal said. He approached it carefully, running his hand along it carefully. “Something about this painting --that-uh- Adrien told me. He once snuck in here and got behind it. There is a secret safe behind the painting. Maybe that’s where the ring is.”

“Do you know the code Bengal?” Ladybug asked. At the shake of his head, she looked at Chloe. “Queen Bee, we need your Kwami.”

“But why?” she touched her comb on instinct.

“Because Kwamis have the ability to open locks by phasing through them. We have to keep our identities hidden from Hawkmoth, but he already knows you.”

“Oh, right. Sure thing. Pollen, detransform me,” Chloe said as the magic faded from her body and Pollen appeared.

“Yes, my Queen?” Pollen asked, bowing before her.

“Open that safe,” Chloe said, pointing to where Bengal had pulled the painting back to reveal the hidden safe. With a chirp of acknowledgment, Pollen zipped into the safe and quickly unlocked it, the heavy door swinging open to reveal the contents.

“That’s amazing! Thank you, Pollen,” Chloe said when the Kwami returned to her before transforming again.

“That’s the peacock miraculous!” Ladybug said, gently picking it up. To her transformed self, it felt wrong. The Kwami didn’t appear, so she knew something was off. Opening her yo-yo, she slid the miraculous into the compartment and her eyes drew back to the safe.

“You won’t find what it is you seek, Ladybug, and I’d like you to return what it mine,” came the stern words behind her. She froze in place before slowly turning around to face their threat.

“Hawkmoth,” was all Ladybug said. Beside her, Bengal Royale growled as his rounded, fake ears flattened and he snarled, baring his claws.

“The one and only. Give me your earrings and I’ll call off my Secretary. The others have used their powers by now, surely. They’ll change back soon and I’ll be able to claim them easily enough. But you, you are tricky and smart. Give me your earrings and I’ll let the rest of you leave.” He spoke impassively, cold and heartless as he stood with his cane in front of the heroine. He walked slowly down a small set of glass stairs and up to Ladybug.

“I won’t give them to you! I won’t allow you to make whatever wish you want. Such power is not meant to used like that! It’ll have a consequence,” she reasoned, or tried to, with her boyfriend's father.

“I don't care about the consequences! I’ll risk everything-- I have risked everything to get my wish! You would never understand, you’re just a child after all. You say you are in love, but you don’t understand at all!” he screamed at Ladybug, all while walking towards her. She slowly backed up, making sure the others were getting into position. Bengal had vanished from sight, which was good, and Chloe was easily staying out of Gabriel’s periphery vision. She felt the open safe door behind her, she had nowhere else to go. She hoped her fake fear fooled him as his suited hand creeps up to her ear.

“Venom!” Queen Bee shouted from close behind Hawkmoth. He turned just in time to get stuck by the stinger of Bee’s top. A shocked expression frozen on his face, his stance open allowed Ladybug to ease herself out from between the wall and Hawkmoth.

“Whew! Good job Queen Bee!” Ladybug said, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Um, that wasn't me,” Chloe said as they both turned back to the frozen Hawkmoth. He faded before their eyes.

“An Illusion? Wait, no way…” Ladybug turned, but too late as Volpina grabbed her for ear--

And her hand was caught by a miraculous-wearing hand appearing from nothing.

“Get off her!” Bengal roared, twisting his body and throwing Volpina against the far wall with more strength then he needed. She hit with a sickening thud before crumpling to the floor.

“Two Akuma’s? Is that possible?” Queen Bee asked. Ladybug closed her eyes, hearing fighting in the next room.

“Guess so, somehow. Come on, we have to find Hawkmoth!” They searched the room, Ladybug’s eyes scanning over everything. 

Chloe closed the safe after Ladybug told her to grab the book from inside, and the painting as well. Ladybug was scanning over the pictures on the right wall of Adrien when something caught her attention. She walked over to the painting again, staring at it for a little while when her keen eyes caught something. Reaching up with her hands, she brushed along a couple of triangles on the painting and they gave way. Surprised, she tried to reach further, but they were just out of reach even on her tiptoes.

“Need a lift, Bug?” Bengal asked.

“Yeah, you mind?” she asked. He nodded and bent down, put his head between her legs which caused a squeal from her, and stood again. She wobbled for half a second, blush firmly in place, and she pressed the buttons. A noise behind her drew both of their attentions, as Bengal Royale turned with Ladybug still on his shoulders. The floor opened up to reveal a small elevator.

“Well, looks like we found his secret lair,” Ladybug said as Bengal lifted her up and off his shoulders. She landed easily on her feet, still holding Bengal’s hand, a small smile on her face as Chloe walked up to them.

“Yeah, well that’s great but now Bengal’s miraculous is beeping!” she pointed to his hand Ladybug was still holding.

“Right, I’ll head to the kitchen and refuel and be back in a jiff,” Bengal said as he started to rush off.

“No time, we’re too close now. How long?” Ladybug asked.

“Three minutes?”

“Just enough. New plan, so we gotta make this work. Lucky Charm!” Ladybug called, silently praying the magic would give her just the item she needed to finish this once and for all. The item landed in the red-clad heroine’s waiting hands before she gripped onto it tightly.

“How exactly is that going to be useful?” Queen Bee snarked, hand on her hip.

“Oh, I think it’s perfect,” Bengal Royale said, stepping up to Ladybug.

“You’re right, Tiger. This is exactly what I needed. Now, let’s go take Hawkmoth down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, did you guys enjoy that? I purposefully didn't tell what the lucky charm was, but you'll find out what it is in the next chapter. What do you think of Chloe now? She steps up for her friend and knows she doesn't have a chance and accepts that. Bengal Royale was sooo hard to write for because I couldn't have him use cat puns because Chat does that and Chloe might figure it out.
> 
> Don't be sad about the next chapter being the last. I hope you enjoyed this one, thank you for reading, and I'll post the final chapter Monday or maybe Sunday.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epic conclusion of the final fight with Hawkmoth. Who will come out on top? What will happen to Emilie? And in the aftermath of this fight, who will pay the most?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, I just want to thank everyone right here and now for keeping me going in this amazing story! I loved doing this and never expected to take it this far, but I'm glad I did. There is so much I want to say, but words fail me and I just can't. My heart is full, my smile wide and to all the readers who enjoyed this story, thank you for sharing this journey with me
> 
> Now, onto the final chapter of "A Model Boyfriend"

Gripping the black polka-dotted lucky charm, Ladybug walked carefully around the darkened attic room. The large, round window before them sported a butterfly logo, exactly like the Agreste fashion line’s logo. Queen Bee and Bengal Royale were close on her heels as they walked towards the middle of the room. The dome shape of the room belied it’s actual size, as it actually took several steps to reach even the center of the room. She knew they were somewhere within the house, but not quite sure where. It looked like a mostly empty attic space, but the heroes present knew it was anything but empty. 

“He’s here, I can feel him,” Bengal said softly, the pair of rounded cat ears flicking around with the hero’s nerves.

“Well, you’re not wrong, Tiger,” a menacing voice said from in front of them. Suddenly, light filled the room from the massive window before them as the mental curtain on the outside retracted. Blinded, the heroes put their hands up in an attempt to adjust quickly, but Hawkmoth didn’t give them the chance. He swung with his cane, and only Bengal’s cat-like reflexes managed to deflect the blow while pushing his heroine friends out of the way. 

Ladybug fell onto Chloe from Bengal’s push but quickly got off as she muttered an apology.

“It’s alright Ladybug. So, the plan?” she whispered as Bengal Royale and Hawkmoth fought. Ladybug’s heart ached at seeing father and son fighting so viciously, but knew Bengal would do what it took to win.

“Right, try to get around him while Bengal and I distract him,” Ladybug reminded her. With a nod, Queen Bee started to circle the fighting hero as Ladybug swung out with her yo-yo. It hovered between the fighting pair for only a moment before it zipped back to Ladybug as she kicked up towards Hawkmoth’s face. The villain dodged and swung his cane around towards Ladybug, but Bengal’s clawed hand swiped out.

Hawkmoth managed to fend off the duo of superheroes with little trouble, dishing out blow for blow on them both while only taking grazing hits. Claw marks were etched into his cane, string marks covered the arms of his suit on both his wrists and legs, but even with their strength, he wasn't tiring. Unlike Ladybug and Bengal Royale, who were wearing down quickly. Bengal’s miraculous beeped loudly, frantically letting everyone know he had less than a minute before he changed back.

Time running out, Ladybug checked Queen Bee’s location. She was in a position to rush him, so now was the time.

“Bengal, let’s do this!” Ladybug shouted as she body blocked Hawkmoth, knocking him off balance enough to give her the space she needed to toss the lucky charm to Bengal. He grabbed it easily, knelt down and turned on the flashlight, blinding the empowered Gabriel Agreste.

“Uuuugh!” he grunted as he held up his hand, trying to block the bright light. Ladybug swung out with her yo-yo as it encircled Hawkmoth completely, pinning his arms to his sides and causing him to drop his cane.

“Now, Queen Bee!” Ladybug shouted to her.

“Venom!” Chloe called out, finally empowering her top with a paralyzing stinger and rushing up to Hawkmoth as he struggled.

Knowing he was finally about to be beaten, the knowledge that his final plan had failed to a bunch of teenagers, he relented and whispered, “I’m sorry Emilie.”

The light fell from Adrien’s detransformed hands and clattered to the floor. Bee went to yell at Bengal for dropping the light when she saw Adrien. She stopped inches from Hawkmoth, not quite close enough to hit him with her power. Ladybug still held the man tight within her yo-yo string but looked back and forth between father and son.

“Adrien? But I thought-” Chloe asked.

“I’m Chat Noir. I had my miraculous taken from me by my father,” he informed Chloe. “Father, what did you mean? What does any of this have to do with mom?”

“I never had a chance, did I?” Chloe whispered, but only Ladybug heard her as Gabriel spoke over the blonde.

“I was doing this for her,” he clarified. “You mother isn’t dead, Adrien. Well, not completely. She’s locked in the basement, in a special coffin keeping her on the brink. I was going to wish her back. I love her too much to lose her, and I knew you loved her more than you ever did me. I know you’d rather have her than me, Adrien. I’m sorry, but I had no choice!” Hawkmoth detransformed and became Gabriel Agreste once more, still encircled by Ladybug’s string. 

“Queen Bee, take his miraculous. His brooch,” she clarified.

“Marinette?” Queen Bee asked.

“Chloe, do it!” Ladybug said, her miraculous beeping now as well. Queen Bee flinched at the harsh words her hero snapped at her but took the moth miraculous from Gabriel’s neck. “Gabriel, the cat ring. Give it to Queen Bee, now!”

With great reluctance, he opened his hand to reveal the black cat ring within. Bee grabbed that too and Ladybug recalled her string and walked over to claim the heavy metal flashlight from where it clattered to the floor beside Adrien.

“It’s okay, it’s over now,” she stated as she placed a hand on his shoulder. She heard Rena and Carapace making their way to them, heard Chloe’s powers fading as she detransformed, still holding the miraculouses as she walked over to Ladybug. Gabriel remained where he was, she assumed because she didn’t hear anything from his position behind her. Adrien just stared after his father. Ladybug heard her earrings beep again and knew from the number of beeps she had less than a minute too.

“You let me fall from that building. Got me hit by Akuma’s left and right. Had me so busy I sometimes couldn’t sleep at night. Tried to seclude me within this massive house, alone, instead of being the father I always wanted! For what? You hurt the city of Paris just to try and make a wish when all I ever wanted from you was your acceptance!” He was crying, Adrien knew, as he friends crowded around the emotional boy. Gabriel seemed to be unaware as he stood up, looking over at the group of friends who consoled his son.

Ladybug reached into her yo-yo, claimed the peacock miraculous and detransformed before everyone. Marinette turned and showed the miraculous to her arch enemy.

“We’ve won, Gabriel. We finally have all of the miraculous back and you will never hurt Nooroo again! You’ll never hurt Paris again. I warned you weeks ago I’d make you pay for hurting Adrien again, you know you are! Tell me one reason why I shouldn’t hand you over to the police right now.” Her voice was stern and powerful, and the older man flinched away from it.

“Please don’t,” a tiny purple Kwami floated to Marinette. Tikki, holding a half-eaten cookie, gasped at the little winged god before them.

“Nooroo! What do you mean? After all he’s put you through, all he’s done, how can you have sympathy for him?”

“He is hurting, Tikki. It’s because I wasn't strong enough that his wife got hurt and the peacock got damaged. She got sick after using it and fell into a coma. Please, have mercy on my master.” The Kwami’s words finally broke Gabriel’s silence as he fell to his knees, the pain of his loss finally hitting him. The loss of his wife, his Kwami, his son’s trust and love, all of it. He was a broken man, abused his Kwami horribly, and yet this tiny purple god was begging the heroine of Paris for mercy.

Adrien saw his father’s break down and heard more than saw Nathalie rush to his father's side through his wobbly, tear-filled eyes. She whispered to him about how much she cared for him, how she was sorry she failed to help him achieve his goal but that she was still there, would always be there. The now detransformed superhero team stood by their friend, Kwamis also nearby their current owners, to watch the interaction.

“Not good enough,” Marinette, eyes burning with angry tears. “It’s not good enough Nooroo. He hurt so many people, he doesn't deserve mercy! He did so much wrong, caused so much pain to everyone around him.”

“Marinette,” Adrien said close to her ear. “For you, I might have done the same. Can you say you wouldn’t for me?” 

She looked at him and knew he was right. She’d almost given her miraculous up when she feared Adrien would be dropped from the Eiffel tower. Her heart had nearly stopped when she thought she wouldn’t be able to save him when he was dropped from Tour Montparnasse. Would she break the rules of reality to save Adrien?

She clenched her fists to her sides, inhaled a deep breath and walked to Gabriel. Nathalie tried to block and protect him, but Gabriel put a hand on her shoulder and looked up into the angry teen’s eyes. Marinette had never hated someone as much as she thought she hated Chloe until Hawkmoth showed up. The rage she felt when she thought of everything that man had put her through, the damage he’d caused both physical and emotional to people who he knew and didn’t. Gritting her teeth, she reared her hand up and back, intending to slap him just to release the anger she felt in some small way, to show just how much she hurt.

But as she swung her hand down, Adrien calling out to her as gasps echoed behind her, even Nooroo trying to rush forward to somehow block the blow, she stopped. Her hand hovered inches from his face, the man had closed his eyes to accept the small punishment he was sure was coming. She hated this man, but she couldn’t strike him. Not like this.

Rage poured through her in the form of a scream as she crumpled to her knees before the man who had caused her and her friends' so much pain. She pounded her first on the floor as the tears flowed from her eyes, shouting “I hate you!” with each impact. She couldn’t hit him, but she had to release her anger in some way. She understood his view, his desperation, and she hated herself for almost seeing his side of things. 

Hands on her shoulder caused her to turn around, her blurry vision showed her not just Adrien, but Chloe, Alya, and Nino were supporting her, all their eyes wet as well. Her boyfriend knelt beside her and she leaned back into him as Nooroo quietly sobbed, Tikki and Plagg consoling the emotional Kwami. 

Slowly, carefully, Marinette got control again as Adrien wiped her tears away with his thumb. With a calming breath, she stood, pulling away from her group of friends and walked to Tikki, Plagg, and Nooroo. She had a stupid idea, but it was worth a try.

“Tikki, are you charged up?” she asked, softly.

“Yes, why?”

“Tikki, transform me!” Pink light engulfed the group as Marinette once again became Ladybug. All eyes on her as she turned. “Everyone, charge up and transform. I have an idea to fix this, without a wish.”

The everyone’s surprise, they fed their Kwamis and transformed, Chat Noir returning once again to his Lady’s side. Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, Carapace all transformed again as Ladybug held up the peacock miraculous. 

“Gabriel Agreste, your time will come to pay for your crimes against the city of Paris and it’s citizens.” He hung his head as he accepted her words, but his eyes flew back to the heroine at her next words. “But I will do what I can to fix the damage to the peacock and revive your wife.”

“But, how-?” he started, but she held up a hand.

“I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for Adrien. So he won’t be alone anymore.” Her stern eyes took in the unadulterated joy filling Gabriel’s eyes and the cool conviction of Nathalie at his side. 

“But, my Lady, how are you going to do that?” Chat asked, rubbing his tender eyes from recently shed tears. He watched Ladybug pick up the discarded flashlight, the last lucky charm she might ever summon. Opening her yo-yo to reveal the purifying light from inside it, she placed the flashlight on top in one hand and held the peacock miraculous over both with the other.

“By making a miracle,” she said as she closed her eyes and dug deep into powers she had only heard about from Master Fu. He told her her powers worked in strange ways, so she hoped this worked. “Miraculous Ladybug!” she cried out and felt the magic wash over and around her hands. 

Magical ladybugs poured from the open yo-yo as the flashlight faded into nothing, the power engulfing her hands and the peacock miraculous. She felt the change in her powers, her strength waning as she tried to hold on to the healing powers. 

“I need your help guys, hurry! I’m losing it!” Ladybug called. Within moments, Rena Rouge, Carapace, Queen Bee, and Chat Noir all placed their hands and channeled their powers into the magic she was creating. She knew it was possible and was glad her friends figured it out but felt like it still wasn’t enough. Slowly releasing the now glowing peacock miraculous, seeing it floating on a flood of magical ladybugs, she held out the moth miraculous to Gabriel. 

“We need more power. Can I trust you to give it back?” He blinked at her words, unbelieving.

He nodded confirmation and he stood, walking carefully to the heroine using all her strength to try to save his wife. He carefully took the miraculous, put it on and uttered words that he hadn’t many years.

“Nooroo, transform me.” Magic engulfed him as Nooroo was sucked into the brooch, pure magic like he had nearly forgotten. His suit remained similar, but instead of dark purple and black, it was mostly white with a light purple undershirt. His cane was pure white with a light purple gem on the top, faceted to catch the light shining around them. His jacket had to white tails, tipped with light purple while around his neck the miraculous shined. On his head, instead of a head covering ski like mask, a white fedora with a light violet butterfly emblem appeared. His mask was softer too, not as sharp and evil as his dark transformation.

Ladybug smiled, she liked this version of Hawkmoth better than the last. He stepped up to the group, summoning a white butterfly to his hand.

“Little butterfly, empower their spell,’ he said as he clutched the tiny insect. Instead of the dark purple, it normally became, it stayed white with light violet lines and light shining from some spots. It fluttered to and on top of the grouping of hands, vanishing within the flood of ladybugs as the magic from the yo-yo doubled.

Ladybug flinched as she felt the power flood into her and back out again, having to close her eyes a the light quickly became too much. A blinding flash of light engulfed the heroes, pushing them all back. As the spots faded from her eyes, blinking to clear them further, she saw just what had happened. Her friends and teammates were all either covering their eyes or rubbing then to clear their vision, even Gabriel. She was about to praise him when a quiet sniffle made her look up, her jaw dropping in surprise.

Floating in the middle of the group of heroes, just a few inches above her miraculous, was the peacock Kwami, Duusu. She was sniffling, on the verge of tears, as she floated there. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, seemingly for the first time in a long time. Ladybug’s eyes trailed down to the now repaired miraculous. It looked almost the same, but there was more red in the gems adorning each feather of the hand fan-shaped miraculous. Ladybug smiled up at the emotional Kwami.

“Welcome back, Duusu,” she said, weakly. “Tikki, revert me,” was the last thing she uttered before falling back to lay on the ground, exhausted. Everyone was tired as their transformations fell and their Kwamis floated to their owners, even Hawkmoth.

“You did well, Violet Moth,” Marinette said, propping herself up on his elbows as Tikki handed her half of a cookie.

“I-- Thank you, Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” he said through the emotion trying to choke his words. 

*********

After everyone was fed by a much appreciative Gabriel Agreste, he led them down into the hidden basement where he had fed power down to the chamber he kept his nearly dead wife. Adrien rushed to the glass-topped coffin to gaze at his mother for the first time in nearly two and a half years. 

“She looked just the same as when she left,” he noticed, looking back at his father.

“Yes, she is nearly unchanged from then. I’ve done my best to keep her alive, but she is hovering on the brink. I was running out of time,” he said sadly as he placed a hand on the coffin. As the rest of the group caught up to the father and son, they saw inside the glass top.

Emilie Agreste appeared to simply be asleep within the chamber where she lay, eyes closed gently. She did not appear to be in pain nor were there any tubes going into or out of her still body. In her hands, folded around her waist, she held a bouquet of red and white roses with a few white forget-me-nots mixed in. On her neck rested a star-shaped brooch while to her shoulder her platinum blonde hair draped in gentle waves. She wore a white suit with a black shirt underneath, and looked so peaceful and beautiful.

“Gabriel, you need to open the case so we can see if this works.”

He nodded, looked down at a nearly hidden keypad, and entered the code. Wish a gush of air, the lid to the coffin lifted and swung up and over to the side, revealing the barely breathing woman inside. Her eyebrows twisted in a show of discomfort, her hands tightening around the flowers she still held. Gabriel went to rush to her side, but the calm hand of Marinette stalled his movement. She reached over carefully, fan pin in hand and attached it to her blouse. Duusu was then sucked into the miraculous, a flurry of feathers covered the woman from view.

“Please work,” Marinette whispered as everyone present held their breath.

The sudden intake of breath from the coffin as the feathers fell away as if blown by an unseen wind had all eyes return to the woman in her glass coffin. Adrien and Gabriel rushed back to Emilie’s side while Nino and Alya held each other for comfort and Chloe felt her eyes well up.

“Gabriel? A-Adrien?” the soft voice of Emilie Agreste uttered. Marinette blinked away the tears that threatened to fall as the Agreste men wept.

***********

“I can’t do this Alya, I just can’t!” Marinette said as she paced back and forth in the white tent off to the side. Dupont College had set up a stage within their inner courtyard and a tent outside to allow the students of her graduating class to prepare to accept their diplomas. Marinette was currently pacing back and forth at one end of the tent, sectioned off for the Valedictorian of their class, which happened to be her, somehow.

“Girl, just breathe. You’ve got this! You defeated Hawkmoth, saved Adrien’s mom and helped so many other people. You deserve this!” Alya said from her seat near her anxiety-riddled friend. The darker girl shook her head as Marinette continued to blabber on and on about what she could and couldn’t do when a sound to her right drew her attention. Mari was too obsessed to hear the soft “ahem” the boy made, but Alya smiled and went to him.

“She’s freaking out, isn’t she?” Adrien asked, eyes trained on his girlfriend.

“You know it. Think you can help?” Alya winked while Adrien felt the light blush pass over his features. He didn't try to hide it though, as he might have two years ago.

“I’ll do my best,” he said calmly as she waved and left her friend in the now eighteen-year-old boy’s hands. He took the newly vacated chair and waited a bit for his beautiful girlfriend to notice his arrival. He didn’t wait long.

“I just can’t, Alya! I don't deserve any of this, I barely passed last quarter, and with be constantly transforming, I--Ah-Ah-Adrien! When did you get here?” He chuckled at her adorable stammer as he sat where her best friend was just moments before. His legs crossed, knee on knee and hands resting on them, he just smiled when his laughter subsided.

“Relax, Bugaboo. You are the most confident when your team stands with you. We all know it, and we’ll be there for you to back you up. You deserve everything coming to you, and more,” he said with a sure voice. 

“I don’t know,” she said, a cute pink blush forming along her cheeks. 

“You may not, but everyone else does. Who had fixed the Eiffel tower more times then she can count?”

“Me?”

“Correct, and who came up with the plan to help that bus-load of tourists last week?”

“We’ve done that several times, Adrien!” he gave her a soft stare, raising an eyebrow. “Ugh, me.”

“And who is the best girlfriend in the world?”

“Alya?” Marinette was smiling now. Adrien shook his head and stood, walking to place a gentle kiss on Mari’s cheek.

“No, silly. She’s awesome, don’t get me wrong, but you are mine,” he said quietly. “My Lady,” he added, even softer.

Marinette giggled. “So you keep saying Kitty.”

“There’s the Marinette I know. Now, feeling better?” She nodded as she allowed his hands to rest on her hips, the fabric of her graduation gown rustling softly with the movement. “Good, ready to go speak to our parents and fellow graduates, Valedictorian?”

“Yeah, I think I am. Thanks, Adrien,” Marinette answered softly as she rested her head against her boyfriend’s chest.

“Good, because they’re getting antsy,” he responded. He leaned down, close to her ear as he whispered, “I’ll always be there for you, Purrincess.”

She felt her blush heat up as she pushed him away, his warm breath having tickled her ear. He just chuckled at her cute reaction.

Once outside the tent, he walked her as far as his seat in the front row of the chairs set up while Marinette took her place on the stage. Note cards were stacked carefully on the stand with a microphone placed just high enough for her to reach. Picking up the cards carefully so she didn’t scatter them, she began reading through her speech

She spoke of the trials her classmates would surely face, but of the triumphs that would come from them. She spoke of the good times they shared, and the bad. Her hopes for her friends and the dreams she hoped they achieved. As she talked more of the future, her eyes went to Adrien who smiled back. Then her eyes went to Alya and Nino, seated near each other but not beside each other. She found Chloe seated next to Adrien, but saw no motion of trying to be any closer to him as she mentioned enemies becoming friends. Then, her eyes trailed to where the parents were seated as she talked about how thankful she was for her own parents.

Her eyes found them easily, and they waved enthusiastically at her. She smiled back but did not linger long as her eyes spotted movement. She saw his glasses before anything else, mainly because of the glare they caused as he turned his head to his right. Seated in a wheelchair beside Gabriel was Emilie. Her recovery was going slow, but she was working towards being able to walk more and more steadily. Emilie moved her hand to wave slowly at Marinette, drawing Gabriel’s eyes back to her, a smile spreading across his face. She nodded in acknowledgment and finished up her speech, ending in a wish to-

“All my classmates and friends to live their life to the fullest. We never know how long we have, or how close those to us truly are until they are gone. Congratulations to us all, and I look forward to keeping in touch!” 

Applause erupted from all present as Marinette bowed before those gathered and moved to take her seat. Mr. Damocles thanked Marinette for her words and began calling names. Marinette heard Adrien’s name called and watched him stand to go to claim his diploma. She closed her eyes and focused on hearing her name, not the rest of the order. 

“Dupain-Cheng. Dupain-Cheng. Dupain-Cheng,” she chanted until she finally heard it.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, please come and claim your diploma,” Mr. Damocles said.

Automatically, she stood and walked back up to the stage, eyes on her principal and not where she was walking. Her toe caught her gown as she took the last step and started to fall. Her arms flailed around in an attempt to catch herself, but strong hands she knew caught her instead. Her eyes trailed up into a pair of green ones she knew well.

“Come on, you can’t fall for me again, can you?” Adrien asked, humor in his words. She would have playfully hit him if she wasn’t surrounded by their classmates and parents. She settled for a glare as he helped her to her feet and heard a clatter along the floor.

“The ring!” he whispered as his face paled and he began glancing around, going down to his hands and knees. Marinette, fearing he’d lost his miraculous, went down too and began searching. She crawled along the floor, heading towards the podium and bumping it with her head. She sat down and rubbed it while behind her came a triumphant sound.

“Found it! Whew! That coulda been bad,” Adrien said as he walked over to Marinette again. With a smile, he held his hand out for her to take. By some instinct, she gave her left hand for him to take and felt something slide between her fingers.

“Adrien, why are you-” She started to ask “why are you giving me your miraculous” but when she looked at her hand, she found a completely different ring.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he started, kneeling down before her. Gasps echoed around them as he continued speaking. “I love you more than I can ever truly express. We’ve been through so much, some times were harder than others, but we came through in the end. We’ve faced so much together, and I want nothing more than to keep standing by your side through every challenge that comes our way. Will you make me the happiest man in the whole of Paris, and accept me as your fiance?”

Marinette’s other hand had flown to cover her mouth as she heard Alya’s quiet tears of joy spilling for her best friend. Mari listened to every word and saw the hidden meaning in everything he had said. Akumas, Hawkmoth, saving Paris, facing bullies and supervillains, Chat Noir and Ladybug had faced them all and won every time. They worked so well both in and out of the suit, they almost read each other's minds. This was all she had ever truly wanted in her life, but one thing was still standing in her way.

She had to answer.

“Yes! Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!” she cried as she threw herself at him, arms going around his neck. He laughed and braced himself with his hand, his other around her waist in a hug. Cheers and applause poured out from the gathered crowd, even the teachers began tearing up. The kiss they shared was, surely, the best one she could remember.

At least, for now it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tears of happiness should be filling your eyes right now! Emilie is alive, Adrien and Mari are engaged (thus why I can't call any future stories "Boyfriend") and everything is right in the world, right?
> 
> Well, I have some questions for you.
> 
> First, where is Nathalie? (I left her out on purpose)  
> Second, Adrien has his miraculous, and we assume Mari as hers, but for how long?  
> Third, how will their engagement and older selves interact now?
> 
> All questions I'd answer if I decide to continue this story. No more Akumas (maybe) and just everyday life with these two cuties. Would you want that? Let me know and I'll think about where I could take it from here. Thank you all again for reading and Stay Miraculous!

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, that's what I've got for you so far. Please leave a comment as I will be responding to them.


End file.
